French police officer (stock)
French police officer (stock)iStock

A man who scrawled threatening messages in Arabic on the walls of a museum in southern France has barricaded himself inside, leading police to surround the building, imposing a veritable siege on the museum.

According to AFP, local police have confirmed that the suspect was holed up in an archaeological museum in the southern French town of Saint Raphael, adding that security forces had cordoned off the surrounding area.

"There are barriers all around, the street is completely closed, the police are on the spot, waiting, and for now it's quiet."

French media outlets reported that the suspect had scrawled “disturbing” messages in Arabic on the walls of the museum.

"The museum will be turned into hell," one of the messages read, which was visible from outside of the museum according to a report by ARTE.

It is unclear if the suspect is armed.

"We must remain very cautious because we do not have at the moment any information on his motivation, we would be more faced with an imbalance," a police spokesman said, according to The Mirror.

Police were first notified after a cleaning lady who was supposed to clean the museum Wednesday morning found the building locked from the inside.