More than 100 portraits of president removed in symbolic civil disobedience movement The school summer holidays had started and it was exceptionally hot But at 4pm something extraordinary happened Eleven people calmly walked in, politely greeted the receptionists, then headed to the room usually reserved for council meetings. They carefully unhooked the picture of the French president, Emmanuel Macron – the type of portrait that hangs in all local administration buildings – gently placing it in a special protective pouch, and then walked out. The climate protesters took the portrait home and waited, wondering when the local gendarmes would knock on their doors. Read moreIt was the latest act in an unusual and fast growing civil disobedience movement in France in which framed portraits of Macron have been taken down by protesters from more than 100 town halls stretching from small Beaujolais villages to Normandy towns leading to a police crackdown and court appearances “The blank space left on the wall symbolises the void in government policy on the climate emergency,” the protesters said in a statement after the latest portrait seizure in Lingolsheim Climate activists from the association ANV Action non-violente COP21 say the “Take Down Macron” campaign is a “desperate and urgent” move to force France to do more about the climate emergency Macron presents himself as a world leader in the fight against global heating, and the guarantor of the UN’s 2015 Paris climate accord. He has challenged Donald Trump on the issue vowing France would “make our planet great again” However, the nation’s independent advisory council on the climate recently warned of a “gap between ambition and reality” Its report said France was failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions fast enough particularly via road transport and buildings and without major policy change was unlikely to meet its goals Macron’s portrait being taken down. Photograph: Clement TissotFrance has a long history of civil disobedience on environmental and social issues, that has included a campaign by the farmer and activist José Bové to rip up GM crops and a movement stressing that money lost in tax evasion could fund the fight against global heating has a special symbolism that has captured the public’s interest which stare down on citizens from the walls of schools The basic portrait in a frame may be worth only a few euros warned: “You don’t attack symbols of the republic.” more than 1,000 people met at a climate camp in north-east France to prepare protest actions Before taking each portrait of the president the activists carry out reconnaissance trips to the town halls They do not cover their faces or hide their identities and often wear high-visibility jackets carrying their logo But in a country preparing for the G7 summit at the end of August and still reeling from the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement Officers advised by the country’s anti-terrorism force have questioned 89 people and carried out 72 searches of properties Several activists have gone on trial for “group theft by deceit” since the movement began five months ago More trials will take place in the autumn in cities including Paris The group argues that each time they appear in court “I asked myself what can I do to channel this anger I feel about the lack of real government action on the climate emergency?” said Anne-Sophie Trujillo Gauchez an activist who works as a consultant and who previously ran international humanitarian missions for big charities She lives in a Beaujolais village where she recycles goods and uses an electric bike “But individual gestures like that are not enough without proper structural change in society.” Trujillo Gauchez and 13 others entered the town hall of Jassans-Riottier and removed Macron’s portrait from a wall adorned with every French leader since Charles de Gaulle A few days later police appeared at her house with a summons Trujillo Gauchez was among six activists who stood trial for “group theft by deceit” in the first portrait removal proceedings in May in the eastern French town of Bourg-en-Bresse as more than 300 activists stood outside chanting “we’re all portrait removers!” The head judge asked one activist during the trial if he agreed that taking the portrait could be seen as an attack on the authority of the state He replied: “I would hope the authority of the state isn’t just a portrait hanging in a town hall room used for marriages.” Activists leave with a portrait from a town hall in Lyon Photograph: Charly CorneEach activist was convicted and received suspended fines of hundreds of euros much less than the prison sentences and fines in the thousands of euros available to the court so a retrial will be scheduled to take place early next year said the state’s appeal over the sentences was disproportionate for a protest that was “purely symbolic” said he would argue that the activists took down the portraits out of “necessity” over the climate emergency the national spokesperson for the Take Down Macron campaign will go on trial in September over two portraits taken from Paris town halls along with the person who filmed the removal for YouTube A journalists’ union complained when local reporters covering a portrait removal in Normandy received police summons Esnault said it was symbolic that the court hosting the trial was also used for terrorist cases “If France wants to position itself as a world leader on the climate emergency then it must at least respect its objectives,” she said adding the movement began just as Greenpeace and other organisations moved to take the French state to court to force it to respect environmental commitments “I think non-violent civil disobedience in France is going to increase as a form of action on this.” is among three activists recently cleared of group theft in Strasbourg after he took down Macron’s portrait in Kolbsheim town hall near a controversial motorway ringroad project He said: “This is about opening people’s eyes to the need for change There has to be an urgent leap in society to overhaul our infrastructure in order to save the environment.” Pole vaulter Nicole Buchler has been a regular top-three finisher on the IAAF Diamond League circuit this summer Here the Swiss record-holder offers her thoughts on our first impressions questions It came three months after I started pole vaulting in the city of Berne I remember before the competition I had a workout and managed to clear 3.00m so I set the bar at 2.80m for my first height I didn’t compete again until the following indoor season in January In the town where I grew up (Mangling) there were two sports clubs – one was for rhythmic gymnastics and the other for tennis I remember being selected for a junior team for rhythmic gymnastics from the age of eight and that’s when I dropped tennis I went on to compete at world and European championships in the sport of rhythmic gymnastics That came during the 2005 indoor when I competed in Lingolsheim in France It was the first time I’d cleared 4.00m and set a Swiss under-23 record I really liked the atmosphere of the meeting They put on a big show with lights and music I had been used to competing in front of very few people in Switzerland but I remember a big crowd watched that event It came at the 2007 World University Games in Bangkok and it was very unexpected I had experienced a World University Games two years earlier in Turkey and it was cool to spend time in an Olympic village-type atmosphere I recall the weather was very hot and humid in Thailand and I had gone into that meet with a PB of 4.20m I needed a third attempt to clear my opening height at 3.80m but I managed to stay in the competition so to go on to jump 4.35m and take a bronze medal was amazing I have been lucky in that I have not had too many injuries in my career One of the first big injuries I suffered came in 2010 at the Donetsk indoor meeting I landed on the bar and twisted and tore the ligaments in my foot That was probably in my first ever meeting when I no-heighted In athletics it probably came after I jumped 4.00m for the first time (in Lingolsheim) and set an under-23 record Earlier in my rhythmic gymnastics career I had been interviewed many times I once remember qualifying for the national team when three girls in total from my region had qualified I remember a photographer from the local newspaper coming to take our picture I often held on to my shoes and clothes for so long that I grew out of my clothes and was happy to wear shoes with holes in them – even though my mum kept reminding me to go out with her to buy new shoes although I rarely eat it as I have to watch my weight I was given a red Honda from my parents about six years ago which now has 270,000km on the clock The car was built in 2002 and I still have it today My sister and I each got one for Christmas Today my husband and I have an Australian cattle dog My husband brought it out from the United States when he moved to Switzerland but growing up everyone else was a fan so I felt I had to have a song by them Sometimes it is fun to hear an old Backstreet Boys song on the radio although it is probably not something I would choose to listen to