PARIS: The French government says vandals have torched 30 percent more cars on New Year's Eve this year than during the holiday last year.
Burning cars on the last day of the year has become a tradition in underprivileged French suburbs.
The Interior Ministry says 1,147 cars were burned overnight, compared with 878 last year. It says police arrested 288 people during the night, up from 259 last year.
An angry President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday that minors caught setting vehicles ablaze should be banned from holding a driver's license until they have paid back victims for the damage done to their cars.
Sarkozy also advocates the more widespread use of video surveillance to identify culprits.
