Nazi inscriptions and swastikas have been sprayed on about 50 graves in the Muslim section of a military cemetery near Arras in northern France.

The Notre-Dame de Lorette cemetery in Ablain Saint-Nazaire is one of France's biggest World War One military cemeteries and was built on the site of a battlefield where many French and German soldiers died between October 1914 and October 1915.

None of the tombs were destroyed.

During World War One, France mobilised about 600,000 colonial subjects, including many Muslims from Algeria and Tunisia, of whom 78,000 were killed. Some 1.2 million French soldiers were killed.

"This desecration is all the more shocking because it affects the graves of fighters who gave their lives for France," President Jacques Chirac said in a statement.

Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said the government was determined to ensure the perpetrators were brought to justice and would keep up its fight against all forms of discrimination.

France is home to 5 million Muslims, Europe's largest Muslim community, making up 8 percent of France's population.

SOS Racism, a rights organisation, blamed the vandalism on comments made in the presidential election campaign, without pointing to any particular candidate.

"The increase in the xenophobic and stigmatising comments throughout this presidential election campaign is responsible for racist individuals taking action," it said in a statement.