Thursday July 12 12:33 PM ET 

French Gnomes Helped on Way to Spiritual Freedom

STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - More than 70 garden gnomes were found on
the steps of a cathedral in northeastern
France after an undercover operation by the shadowy Garden Gnome
Liberation Front, a regional newspaper said on Thursday.

The kitsch creatures had been abducted from their green, floral homes and
assembled on the steps of the cathedral in the town
of Saint-Die, La Liberte de l'Est reported.

A banner of the Gnome Liberation Front, which aims to ''free'' gnomes and
``return them to the wild,'' was found at the scene.

Local police who gathered the little statues declined to comment to
journalists in an effort to contain what appeared to be a
spiraling of gnome abductions in the area.

This is the second covert operation by the Front in as many days.
Motorists in eastern France were surprised to find more than
100 gnomes, snow whites and other gaudy garden statues on a roundabout on
Wednesday. Some were arranged to spell out
''Free the Gnomes.'' 

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