It was an exceptional attack, not so much for the damage caused but rather for its unprecedented nature, and for the mysterious signature left behind, the full meaning of which remains as yet unknown to the police and intelligence services. Over three nights, about 10 prisons, mainly located in France's southeast but also some in the Paris region, have been the site of car fires and, in one case, heavy weapons fire. At almost every site, an acronym was left graffitied on a surface: "DDPF," standing for "Droit des Prisonniers Français" ["Rights of French Prisoners"]. On Tuesday night, although calm had returned nearly everywhere else, cars were set on fire at the Tarascon detention center, in southern France, and the signature "DDPF" slogan was found graffitied in the stairwell of a prison supervisor's building in the eastern Paris region, where authorities also noted that a fire was started.

Faced with the scale of the threat, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office said on Tuesday that it was taking over the investigation. According to the Justice Ministry, "the very nature of the action" indicates a "concerted action aiming to severely disrupt public order through intimidation," which constitutes a terrorist offense. Speaking on CNews TV channel on Wednesday morning, Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin stated, "there are clearly people trying to destabilize the state by intimidating it. (…) We will not back down because, first of all, you don't threaten the state, because if the state backs down, there is nothing left, there is no protection for the French."

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