18th century French chateau bulldozed 'by mistake' Mr Stroskin, who runs an import business in Warsaw, Poland, said that he had spent years scouring the area for his ideal French chateau, finally plumping for Bellevue after "falling in love" with it. "Even if it was in a very bad way, I wanted to renovate it," he said. The businessman said he understood the anger among local residents in the town of Yvrac, but said he will not be prosecuting the builders for their appalling mistake. "The damage has been done," Mr Stroskin said. He has vowed to "rebuild an identical Bellevue" including the chateau's grand hall, which could host up to 200 people. A Polish architect has already drawn up plans and local masons have received a 1.5 million-euro (£1.2 million) contract to rebuild the chateau over two years. Locals however are furious at the destruction of one of the "flagships" of their local heritage, who believe it was more than an innocent mistake. "This wasn't a slip of a digger, it was blatantly done on purpose," one local told M6 television channel. The irate mayor of Yvrac, Claude Carty, has ordered all work on the site to be stopped while an investigation takes place. "A building permit for renovation was indeed delivered in June 2011," he told Sud-Ouest. It simply authorised the destruction of a tiny part of the outhouses. Local authorities have also lodged a complaint over a breach of the town's building code with prosecutors. The former owner, Juliette Marmie, said: "The Chateau de Bellevue was Yvrac's pride and joy. The whole village is in shock. How can this construction firm make such a mistake? Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, she added: "We sold it in good faith after Mr Stroskin showed us very detailed plans he had had drawn up with interior decoration respecting the 18th century style, and that's what we expected him to do. It's totally unimaginable. We are totally thunderstruck and don't know what to think. It was a very, very beautiful place. It needed some work done to it, not to be knocked down.