Protesting Globalization in France One night in August 1999, 10 men under the leadership of local sheep farmer and rural aciivist José Bové crept into the town of Millau in central France and vandalized a McDonald's restau under construction, causing an estimated $150,000 in damage. These were no ordinary vandals, however, at least according to their supporters, for the'symbolic dismantling" of the McDonald's outlet had noble aims, or so it wa claimed. The attack was initially presented as a protest against unfair American trade policies. The European Union had banned imports of hormone-treated beef from the United States; primarily because of fears it might lead to health problems(although EU scientists had concluded th was no evidence of this).