New Delhi, Aug. 11 -- A man caught on video lighting a cigarette from the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris has been handed a three-month suspended sentence, according to Ireland's National Public Service Multi-Media Organisation, Raidió Teilifis Eireann.

Hakim H, a 47-year-old construction worker living in Normandy and working in Paris, was found guilty of desecrating the sacred monument by a Paris criminal court. The man, as per the report, admitted his actions during an expedited trial, describing his behavior as "the stupidity of the century."

"I deeply regret this, I apologise to all French people," Hakim H was quoted as saying, breaking down in tears in the courtroom. He expla...