Pig heads found in front of several mosques in France

At least six pig heads were found Tuesday morning in front of mosques across the Paris metropolitan area, causing widespread condemnation from French officials and community leaders.

According to the Paris police prefecture, the heads were discovered outside mosques in Montrouge, Malakoff, Montreuil, and three locations in Paris, Franceblue reported.

In Montreuil, one was placed in front of the Islah mosque, where the prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis condemned what he called an "abject act" and expressed solidarity with the local Muslim community.

In Paris, incidents were reported in the 20th arrondissement on Rue Marey, in the 18th arrondissement where a pig's head was found in a suitcase, and in the 15th arrondissement outside the Ar-Rahma mosque.

Local mayor Philippe Goujon said surveillance footage showed a masked man leaving the head at around 3 am (0100GMT), before it was discovered by a worshipper arriving for morning prayers.

Authorities noted that two of the pig heads were marked with the word "Macron" painted in blue.

The Paris prosecutor's office said the criminal investigation unit had been tasked with handling the case under charges of incitement to hatred aggravated by racial or religious discrimination.

Paris Police Prefect Laurent Nunez denounced the incidents as "abject acts" on US social media company X, vowing that "everything is being done to find the perpetrators."

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau expressed full support for the affected Muslim communities, describing the desecrations as "unbearable provocations."

"Attacking places of worship is unfathomably cowardly. The Republic is secular, but secularism means freedom for everyone to practice their faith in serenity," he added.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called the acts "racist" and said the city would take legal action.

"Enough is enough!" she wrote on Instagram, voicing "full solidarity with the Muslim community."

Political leaders across the spectrum also reacted.

Socialist Party chief Olivier Faure warned that Muslims in France were being targeted in their places of worship, while France Unbowed's Manuel Bompard described Islamophobia as "a cancer of society."

Communist Senator Ian Brossat condemned what he called "absolute abjection," saying racism was spreading across the country.

Chems-Eddine Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, denounced the incidents as "a new and sad step in the rise of anti-Muslim hatred."

He urged for "awareness and national solidarity against this dangerous trajectory."