Several individuals break into the nursing home in La Grand-Croix, in the Loire, on Wednesday, November 11, around 2 a.m., and ransack the facility.
They smash the glass in the doors before entering the premises, which house about a hundred residents.
The linen room is set on fire. The dining hall is ransacked. Equipment and food are overturned.
The residents notice nothing. Their relatives, however, remain in shock a few hours after the ransacking.
The nursing home decides to call in security guards to provide surveillance.
The case involves a place that houses elderly people. The ransacking and the outbreak of fire, which occurred while the residents were asleep and perceived nothing, give the intrusion a particular gravity.