The French ministries for the environment and research have recently issued a joint statement condemning an attack on a plantation of vines in Alsace as “a scandalous degradation of exemplary trials” that were supported by scientists, professional agricultural organisations, local councils and environmental NGOs.

The vines that were destroyed by some 60 activists were genetically modified vines being grown in a French research centre near Colmar in Eastern France. The centre was studying potential solutions to the Grapevine Fanleaf virus.

According to a report in Decanter magazine, the head of the centre which belongs to the French National Institute for Agronomic Research, said: “These idiots have destroyed seven years of work which has been recognised in the US, in Britain, in Germany and in Switzerland.”

There is no known cure for GFLV, which is borne by nematode earth worms and is present in almost all the world’s winemaking regions. It can reduce grape yields by 50 per cent before killing the vines and rendering vineyard soil unviable for future plantations. The militants who carried out the dawn raid are part of a movement known as Les Faucheurs – the reapers – who are opposed to genetically modified organisms and regularly target GM crops.

A member of the militant group told French radio station France-Info: “In about half an hour we neutralised, not vandalised, the vines; public money is financing GMOs and these tests are being carried out in open fields.”

The militants were later arrested and released on bail. They face a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a €45,000 fine.