Vandals on Saturday damaged the tomb of General Charles de Gaulle, the founding father of modern France. De Gaulle was the leader of France's resistance to Nazi occupation during World War Two and founder of the Fifth Republic, the country's current republican system of government, established in 1958. 

The French presidency announced in the evening that all actions needed to tackle the vandalism "will be conducted as soon as possible".

French President Emmanuel Macron was "with emotion" when informed of the act of vandalism against de Gaulle's grave in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises in the country's east, the Elysee said.

"The memory and figure of General de Gaulle are dear to all Frenchmen, and the President of the Republic has assured prompt repair of the burial," the Elysee said.

Macron also conveyed "his sincere thoughts" to de Gaulle's family. 

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De Gaulle was a towering figure of 20th century French history. Besides his role against Nazi occupation in World War Two, de Gaulle also put an end to France's colonial war in Algeria in 1962 and served as France's president for a decade until 1969.

He founded the nation's Fifth Republic, which granted the president sweeping powers, and set a distinctive foreign policy that rejected the concept of US and Soviet world domination, giving the French an independent voice on the world stage.

De Gaulle died in 1970.