A Moroccan man stabbed a mom and her three daughters while they were vacationing in the south of France because he caught the father scratching his crotch, according to media reports.

Mohamed Boufarkouch used a small folding knife to attack the woman and her three kids, aged 8, 12 and 14, in the small town of Garde-Colombe near Laragne-Monteglin in southeastern France around 10:30 a.m.Tuesday, The Daily Mail reported.

He tried to flee the scene in a vehicle, but was quickly captured by police.

Under police questioning, he repeatedly screamed “Allahu Akbar,” which is Arabic for “God is Great,” The Sun reported.

Boufarkouch was charged with several counts of attempted murder and appeared in a Grenoble court, where deputy prosecutor Oliver Nagabbo outlined the bizarre case.

“The husband, and father, of the victims, confirms he crossed the suspect while he was leaving the premises after the attack,” Nagabbo said. “The suspect allegedly then told him: ‘You shouldn’t have done that in front of my wife’, then scratched the inside of his thigh over his shorts.”

Nagabbo added, “The husband doesn’t remember doing such a gesture.”

He also said it was “hard to comprehend that such a gesture could have sparked such a serious attack from a person in full mental health or devoid of any ideological intent.”

The victims, who may have known Boufarkouch and his family, were eating breakfast at the time of the attack, Le Parisien reported.

Boufarkouch, who has been on the police radar for about 15 years, reportedly left his wife in tears when he fled after the assault.

Police recovered the weapon at the scene. It was described as a small folding knife with a blade measuring from 8 to 10 centimeters.

The eight-year-old victim, who was the most severely wounded in the assault, remained in critical condition at a local hospital.

The other three victims suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.