“Every effort is being made to find the perpetrators of these despicable acts,” Laurent Nunez wrote on X.

The heads were discovered on public roads in Paris and three nearby suburbs, according to local authorities.

Interior minister Bruno Retailleau condemned the acts, calling them “outrageous” and “absolutely unacceptable”.

“I want our Muslim compatriots to be able to practise their faith in peace,” he said.

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”, calling for “awareness and national solidarity against this dangerous trajectory”.

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 spike in anti-Muslim hatred and antisemitism since the Gaza war started in October 2023, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack in Israel from Gaza on Oct 7, 2023.

Israel has responded with a relentless assault on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.