The Paris prosecutor’s office has said that the suspects who left decapitated pig heads outside several mosques in the Ile-de-France region earlier this week are foreign nationals who immediately fled the country after the acts.
The desecrations took place overnight on September 9 in Paris, Malakoff, Montreuil, Montrouge and Gentilly.
Prosecutors described the incidents as a "clear desire to provoke unrest within the nation," according to broadcaster BFM TV.
Investigators said the pig heads were purchased from a farmer in Normandy by two men driving a car with Serbian license plates.
The farmer alerted authorities after noting the unusual sale.
CCTV footage later showed the same vehicle in Paris.
Video captured two men placing pig heads outside mosques before driving away.
Officials believe the suspects may have used a Croatian telephone line that was tracked crossing the French-Belgian border early on Tuesday, only hours after the desecrations.
The Civil Liberties Protection Section of the Paris prosecutor’s office has taken over the investigation under charges of "intentional violence" linked to religion and "serving the interests of a foreign power."
The offence carries a penalty of up to six years in prison.
Authorities are also pursuing charges of "public incitement to hatred or violence" based on origin, ethnicity or religion, which carries a maximum sentence of one year.
Spike in anti-Muslim attacks
The incidents come amid heightened sensitivity in France over anti-Muslim attacks and religiously motivated provocations.
The prosecutor’s office said the suspects’ swift departure from France suggested premeditation and foreign coordination.
No group has publicly claimed responsibility, and officials have not disclosed potential links between the suspects and extremist networks.
Muslim groups in France condemned the desecrations, calling them acts of hatred intended to inflame divisions.
Rights advocates urged authorities to strengthen protections for places of worship, noting that Islamophobic incidents have risen in recent years.
The government has yet to comment publicly, but Interior Ministry officials said additional patrols would be deployed near mosques in Paris and surrounding suburbs.
