Two couples outside the southern Peloponnese town of Sparta were arrested this week after DNA testing showed they were not the biological parents of a young girl and boy, respectively.

The four suspects, identified as Roma, lived in gypsy settlement outside the city.

The arrests and the accompanying placement of the children, both four, with a children’s care charity is eerily reminiscent of the “Maria” case last year.

Authorities have reportedly requested judicial permission to post photographs of the children.

A complaint led to the initial police investigation, despite heated protests by the two couples that the children were their biological offspring.

The girl is described as blond and blue-eyed and was the only child in the custody of the one couple. The other couple has three daughters and the boy, which is not their biological child.

Police are investigating the possibility of an illegal (or irregular) adoption, although other possibilities aren’t being ruled out.