• Two French brothers, 3 and 5, were allegedly dumped in a Portuguese forest by their parents.
• Artur Quintas, a local baker, found the boys in Monte Novo do Sul after a fake treasure hunt.
• The children were blindfolded and told to look for a toy before their mother disappeared.

Two young French brothers were allegedly dumped in a Portuguese forest by their ghoulish parents – who lured them into a fake treasure hunt before blindfolding them thousands of miles from home.

The helpless three- and-five-year-old children were rescued by a passing couple Tuesday night, who found them frantically wandering on a main road in Monte Novo do Sul with backpacks stuffed with clothing and food, according to Portuguese media. 

Artur Quintas, a local baker who found the shaken boys, said they were “screaming and crying.”

He recalled the elder brother telling him their mother allegedly led them into the forest and covered their eyes as part of a game – but when they removed their blindfolds, she was gone.

“To trick the children, their mom blindfolded them and left them in the forest to play a game,” Quintas told SIC Notícias.

“They told them to go and look for a toy.”

Believing it was still a game, the boys were reportedly left stumbling through the wooded area lost for hours until Quintas and his wife found them. 

The heroic stranger said he only made the horrifying realization the boys had been abandoned after spotting their backpacks filled with water, fruit, cookies, and a change of clothes, according to the outlets. 

The couple rushed the deserted youngsters, from eastern France, to a local police station, where they told authorities their cruel mother had fed them before taking off. 

The boys had no identification but were able to identify their mom from a photograph, Correio da Manhã reported.

French authorities have since launched a probe into the children’s mother and stepfather.

The investigation is ongoing.