GRENOBLE, FRANCE — A 46-year-old French woman and her three young daughters were seriously injured when they were stabbed by their neighbor at an Alpine vacation resort on Tuesday.

Moroccan national Mohamed Boufarkouch, 37, was arrested after he stabbed the girls with a small folding knife outside their vacation chalet in the resort of Garde-Colombe in southern France, the Telegraph reported.

An initial report said Boufarkouch attacked the girls because they were scantily dressed.

French television channel TF1 reported that Boufarkouch was angry the girls were wearing shorts and may have acted out of religious motives, according to the Telegraph.

However, local prosecutor Raphael Balland said the report was false. He also denied the attack was linked to religious fundamentalism.

The youngest girl, aged 8, was airlifted to hospital with a punctured lung. Her sisters, aged 12 and 14, were being treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries. The mother was being treated for an injury to her sternum.

Boufarkouch, who lives in Paris, was at the resort with his pregnant wife and two children. The two families were staying next door to each other.

Reports said the girl’s mother helped Boufarkouch the previous day by bringing him medication when he was sick.