At least nine pigs’ heads were found outside several mosques in the Paris region on Tuesday, the city’s police chief said, prompting alarm over rising anti-Muslim hatred.
“Pigs’ heads have been left in front of certain mosques … Four in Paris and five in the inner suburbs,” Laurent Nuñez told a press conference, adding that officers were not “ruling out the possibility of finding more”.
Police have opened an investigation into incitement to hatred aggravated by racial or religious discrimination, Nuñez said, calling the acts “despicable”.
The consumption of pork is considered haram (forbidden) in Islam.
Several of the heads had the surname of President Emmanuel Macron scrawled on them in blue ink, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
Nuñez said there could be parallels with past incidents linked to “foreign interference” but urged “extreme caution”.
In early June, three Serbs were charged over the vandalism of Jewish sites in a case investigators suspect was backed by Russia.
France is home to the largest Muslim community in the EU, as well as the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the US.
Several EU nations have reported a rise in anti-Muslim hatred and antisemitism since the Gaza war started in October 2023, according to the EU agency for fundamental rights.
Anti-Muslim incidents in France rose by 75% between January and May 2025 compared with a year earlier, with attacks on individuals tripling, the interior ministry said in July.
The incidents around Paris drew swift condemnation from political and community leaders. Macron met representatives of the Muslim community in the capital to express his support, his office said.
The Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, said the city had taken legal action, denouncing the “racist acts”.
The interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, called the incidents “outrageous” and “absolutely unacceptable”. He added: “I want our Muslim compatriots to be able to practise their faith in peace.”
Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, denounced the “Islamophobic acts” as “a new and sad stage in the rise of anti-Muslim hatred”.
Bassirou Camara, the head of anti-discrimination group Addam, said he feared an escalation. “We have been raising the alarm for months and we are not being heard,” Camara said. “What will be the next step? Throwing pigs’ heads at worshippers or physically assaulting them?”