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Quebec City’s mayor denounced whoever left the head of a pig at the doorstep of a local mosque, calling them “cretins.”

“In a society you have cretins, and in this case, there were two or three cretins, or one cretin that decided to do this,” Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume told reporters Monday. “These are people who want to provoke things.”

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He said the attack isn’t only on Muslims in the city, but on everyone who believes in peaceful coexistence.

“These are citizens of Quebec; they are peaceful and they are part of our community,” Labeaume added.

The city’s police force is investigating after worshippers at the mosque discovered the severed head of a pig left in front of one of the doors, wrapped in cellophane with bows and ribbon, and a card that said “bonne appétit.”

Authorities at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec, in Ste-Foy near the Université Laval, reported the incident to police just before 3 a.m. Sunday. The head was found a few minutes earlier by a worshipper attending early morning prayers.

The act and its message were particularly poignant, coming in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan — one of the most important holidays in the faith. During the month, devout Muslims do not eat from sunrise to sunset. Pork products are forbidden at all times by Muslim dietary laws.

The centre posted a picture of the package on its Facebook page, saying that the mosque had been vandalized.