Finnish police said on Tuesday they had recovered a lost anchor from the seabed as part of an investigation of suspected sabotage against power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea.

The decision follows a spate of suspected sabotage incidents on underwater cables.

The anchor of the Eagle S oil tanker has been recovered from the bed of the Baltic Sea during an inquiry into the ship's possible involvement in sabotage of maritime energy and communication cables. The EU says the tanker belongs to the so-called Russian shadow fleet.

Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation said the ‘location where the anchor was found is along the route’ of the seized Eagle S tanker

General Mark Rutte says the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea area as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week.

Finland last month seized the Eagle S tanker carrying Russian oil on suspicion that the vessel had damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecoms cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed.

Two undersea telecommunications cables that were damaged in the Baltic Sea on Dec. 25 appeared to have been torn apart by a strong external force, Finland's Elisa said on Monday, adding that they had now been repaired.

Finnish authorities have found and retrieved the anchor of the Eagle S tanker, suspected of damaging cables in the Baltic Sea. Investigators will begin inspecting it on Tuesday. Finnish radio Yle reported that the tanker Eagle S's anchor was located at the bottom of the Gulf of Finland and brought to the surface.