Lyon - About 100 garden gnomes were "liberated" from front gardens in the French city of Lyon and placed in a park next to a motorway, police officials reported on Thursday.

"They were all standing there with their faces to the motorway, watching the traffic speed past," a police statement said.

It is not known who took the diminutive figures.

"Owners can pick up their abducted gnomes from a police department office," the statement said.

No-one has claimed responsibility, but a "Garden Gnome Liberation Front" has been causing a nuisance for years in France with its pranks. - Sapa-dpa