France grappled Sunday with widespread damage from violent protests that had led to 1,800 arrests, a torched historic town hall and looted shops.

The unrest, which officials described as extraordinarily intense, raised the stakes for President Emmanuel Macron. He is in his final months in power before elections in six months. The unrest followed weeks of student protests that also turned violent.

"About 1,800 people have been arrested, and investigations are underway to identify and prosecute perpetrators," Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X Sunday.

In Paris, where police said a record 855 people had been arrested, streets were littered with burnt-out barricades made of bikes, bins and other materials. Shop windows were smashed and cars torched on several streets.

The capital experienced "a level of violence that we have never, I believe, seen before," said Paris Deputy Mayor Lamia El Aaraje.

'Wild horde'

Masked youths pillaged scores of shops in Paris and many other cities, including Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice and Strasbourg, during the protests, which were called against high inflation and rising living costs.

Limoges' 19th-century town hall was destroyed by a fire that local prefect Maurice Barate told LCI television had been deliberately set by a "wild horde." Firefighters brought the blaze under control early Sunday.

Political recriminations followed the scenes of destruction.

Macron's centrist government and far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen both blamed "ultra-left" groups for the violence.

Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who had strongly backed the demonstrations, urged protesters late Saturday to avoid looting, describing it as "contrary to our methods."

Paris' Socialist Deputy Mayor Lamia El Aaraje accused Le Pen's party of fueling tensions related to the protests to further her ambition of becoming president next year.

The far-right National Rally party was "acting like a pyromaniac firefighter," El Aaraje said.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance also commented, implying that the unrest stemmed from immigration.

"Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility," Vance said on X.

In Paris, where startled tourists ran with suitcases Saturday on streets filled with tear gas and protesters, the prosecutor's office said more than 500 people were in custody.

It said officials made arrests overnight into Sunday, with most held on suspicion of receiving stolen goods, association with intent to commit violence and vandalism.

Officials in Lyon said 160 people were in custody.

About 500 police officers, firefighters and paramedics were injured in the protests, Interior Minister Nunez said, adding the figure was provisional.

The violence occurred alongside nationwide cost-of-living protests, attended by 550,000 people according to the Interior Ministry, while the CGT union reported 800,000 participants.

Police used tear gas and water cannons against protesters who threw projectiles and aimed fireworks.

'Good news for Le Pen'

A crowd-control grenade blew off a 17-year-old boy's right hand in the southern city of Saint-Etienne.

Analyst Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group think tank said on X that Saturday's "terrible scenes were not political protest in any true sense. Most of the real demonstrations against high oil prices and failing schools were peaceful."

He added, "The violence came from a fringe of the ultra left. The looting by opportunistic gangs from the poor suburbs. All good news for Marine Le Pen."

During and after the demonstrations, gangs of youths roamed city streets, sporadically confronting police, setting fires and attacking shuttered stores to break in and empty shelves.

France's Yellow Vest movement, which staged protests eight years ago against planned fuel-tax hikes by Macron's government, called for Saturday's "yellow and youth" demonstrations.

The primary grievance was the cost of living, which the war in the Middle East partly drove up, contributing to soaring inflation in Europe and elsewhere.