PARIS, France – Following accusations of coordinated acts of vandalism, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced that it has launched an investigation into the causes of a large internet outage that hit France’s telecoms network on Wednesday.

Vandalism attacks have disrupted telecoms networks in various regions, including the Ile-de-France region around Paris, eastern France, and the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Bourgogne-France-Comte regions, according to the French Telecoms Federation.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the inquiry will be co-led by France’s internal intelligence agencies and the national judicial police, citing a potential threat to the country’s fundamental interests.

Earlier, Cedric O, the Minister for Digital Affairs, announced on Twitter that internet cables in the Ile-de-France region had been cut, disrupting the landline and mobile networks, and that the ministry was working with operators to restore service.

According to a representative for Altice’s French telecoms operator SFR, the company’s broadband fibre optic network was targeted by vandalism after 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) on Wednesday.

According to the speaker, the attacks targeted long-distance cables connecting Paris to Strasbourg and Lyon.

These long-distance cables connect major hubs to SFR’s broadband network and the internet, potentially affecting direct consumers as well as other operators who rent SFR’s network, such as Free.

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SFR declined to provide any additional information on the damaged underground wires’ location. It also refused to indicate when full service will be restored or how many cities and consumers would be affected.

According to an industry insider, another long-distance fibre network connection, which connects Paris and Lille, was also harmed.

Orange (ORAN.PA), a French rival that operates a large portion of the country’s fibre network, claimed it was unaffected by the attacks.

Major internet disruptions were reported in major French towns such as Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Reims, and Grenoble, with officials claiming that damage or sabotage was suspected.

The daily Le Parisien said that subterranean cables in France’s Seine-et-Marne and Essone departments had been destroyed, and that these cables connected the hubs of Paris and Lyon.