Pigs' heads left outside mosques in Paris region

At least nine pigs' heads were found outside several mosques in the Paris region on Tuesday, the city's police chief said — an incident that has sparked 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 Nunez told a press conference, adding that officers were not "ruling out the possibility of finding more".

Police have opened a probe into incitement to hatred aggravated by racial or religious discrimination, Nunez said, calling the acts "despicable". The consumption of pork is forbidden in Islam as the meat is believed to be impure.

Several of the heads had the surname of President Emmanuel Macron scrawled on them in blue ink, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP.

Nunez 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 European Union, as well as the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States.