A young Jewish man wearing a star of David pendant was called a "dirty Jew" and mugged outside Marseilles’ major train station this week.

Two men on scooters approached the 20-year-old at 3.30 pm on February 4 outside Saint-Charles train station.

After seeing the Jewish symbol, the muggers are reported to have called the victim a "dirty Jew" and torn the necklace from him, driving away on the scooters.

Another group of men at the scene began to direct antisemitic abuse at the victim. They then stole 100 Euros and an MP3 player from his belongings.

One report says they also hit the victim.

President of the Marseilles metropolitan area Eugene Caselli said: “I want to express my profound indignation and rage at this unacceptable act of racist violence.”

French police are allegedly treating the assault as an antisemitic attack rather than simply a robbery.

Though France saw a 45 per cent rise in antisemitic acts during 2012, analyses based on reported crimes suggest that Marseilles is safer than other areas, including Paris.

According to figures from the Jewish security body Service de Protection de la Communauté Juive (SPCJ), 59 attacks were reported in Marseilles between 2009 and 2011, compared to 340 in Paris proper during the same time.