OTTAWA -- Four cadets from the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean, Que., have been accused of desecrating a Qur'an with bacon and what a senior commander described as "bodily fluids."

The alleged incident is said to have occurred during a cottage party involving a group comprised largely of first-year students from the military college.

"Four of those individuals went to sleep at some point and four other individuals stayed up and unfortunately desecrated a Qur'an," said Lt.-Gen. Charles Lamarre, the chief of military personnel.

"They actually desecrated with, if I'm not mistaken, bodily fluids and there might have been bacon involved."

Lamarre would not comment on the nature of the bodily fluids, but sources have told The Canadian Press that it appears to have been semen.

He said military commanders became aware of the desecration after videos were shown to other students, who subsequently reported the incident.

"Those cadets took it upon themselves to report this up to the chain of command," Lamarre said.

An investigation subsequently launched by the college commandant found reason to believe that the four cadets broke the military's rules, but two have since appealed.

Lamarre said a specific unit within his office is reviewing the case, though he added that the desecration of any religious symbol by a member of the Canadian Forces will not be tolerated.

"It saddens us really. It makes you feel like they're just not getting it sometimes," Lamarre said.

"But the fact of the matter is the vast majority of them do get it. And that's why I was thrilled that it was the young cadets themselves who said this is not right and reported it."

Desecrating a Qur'an is considered blasphemous by Muslims and has sparked violent protests in recent years. Lamarre said it is fortunate that videos of the alleged incident do not appear to have been posted to social media.

"That was one of the things that we were concerned about, because these can be inflammatory to a number of people," he said.

"And not only that, you do not want something that's out there representing the Canadian Armed Forces, because it's not.

Lamarre nonetheless said he has personally reached out to a Montreal imam, Hassan Guillet.

The alleged incident at Saint-Jean comes as Lamarre and other military commanders have been pushing the Forces to become more diverse.