France

France: Pigs' Heads Discovered Outside Nine Paris Mosques

Published SEP 10 2025

Story

Above: The entrance to Mosque Islah on the outskirts of Paris, where a pig's head was discovered on Sept. 9, 2025. Image credit: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

Pigs' heads were discovered outside at least nine mosques in the Paris region, French officials said on Tuesday. The animal is considered impure by Muslims, and consuming pork is forbidden to followers of the religion.
France 24
The Guardian
Middle East Eye
Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, told a press conference that four pigs' heads were discovered at mosques inside the city, with an additional five at sites on the city's peripheries. He added that officers were not "ruling out the possibility of finding more."
France 24
The Guardian
Meanwhile, some of the heads had the surname of French President Emmanuel Macron scrawled on them in blue ink.
Le Monde
Express.co.uk
Police have opened an investigation into the matter. France has Europe's largest Muslim population, estimated at upwards of six million people, and earlier in the year, the Interior Ministry reported a 75% increase in anti-Muslim incidents between January and May compared to the previous year.
The Guardian
Le Figaro
Middle East Eye
While urging caution, Nuñez added that police couldn't "avoid drawing parallels with previous actions, which often took place at night and were proven to be acts of foreign interference."
Reuters
The Indian Express
In July, three Serbian men were charged in connection with vandalizing a Holocaust museum, three synagogues, and a restaurant with green paint. A judicial source told AFP that the acts were carried out "to serve the interests of a foreign power," with Russia being suspected of being behind the operation.
France 24
Brusselstimes

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Although caution is needed not to jump to conclusions before more information is learned, it can't be helped but thought this incident may have been facilitated by foreign intelligence for the purposes of sowing discord in France, particularly as this appears to bear the same hallmarks of previous instances where it was shown that it was a result of Russian interference.

Reuters

The Times (UK)

Narrative B

These are despicable and cowardly acts that appear to be part of a wider trend of anti-Islamic and antisemitic hatred since Israel's war in Gaza. France is a secular republic, but it is that way precisely for the purpose of ensuring that everyone can practice their religion freely. As such, acts like these should have no place in French society.

Middle East Eye

The Times of India