Racist Provocation': Two Bloodied Pigs Heads Found Hanging Outside of French Mosque

PARIS (The Blaze/AP) -- Authorities say two pigs' heads were found hanging outside a mosque in southern France. The local mayor denounced what she described as "intimidation." Expatica.com has more about the incident:

Muslims attending morning prayers Wednesday were confronted by two pigs' heads in the entrance to their mosque in a French town where an Islamist gunman killed two paratroopers in March.

The incident in Montauban was described as a "racist provocation" by a watchdog which monitors anti-Islamic actions in France and as an "odious and blasphemous act" by the Montauban mayor, Brigitte Bareges.

It was the first of its kind in the southern Tarn-et-Garonne region but officials refused to speculate on a possible link to the March tragedy.

A statement from the office of Mayor Brigitte Bareges in Montauban said the heads were found attached to entrance pillars outside the Salam Mosque, with a large pool of blood on the ground below.

The mayor condemned "this odious and blasphemous act toward the Muslim community." Due to the fact that the pigs are considered unclean by Muslims, who are forbidden from eating pork and are currently observing the holy month of Ramadan.

Abdallah Zekri, chairman of France's Islamophobia Observatory, also weighed in, saying, "For this to occur during the holy month of Ramadan, it's unspeakable. It is racist provocation."

France has an estimated 5 million Muslims, a population that has struggled with discrimination.