A beheaded corpse was found in the Sinai Peninsula Wednesday, residents said – bearing a note from a terror group linked to the Islamic State (IS) alleging the victim was an “Israeli spy.” 

“This is the fate of all who prove to be traitors in their homeland,” the note said, claiming the victim “worked for the Mossad.” 

This is the eighth victim in one month linked to the group – the Al-Qaeda-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis – which has now, allegedly, taken inspiration from IS and its copycats. 

In a similar incident several weeks ago, four decapitated bodies were found in the same town, which is about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Gaza border. Egyptian police established that the men had been kidnapped from Cairo several days beforehand. 

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for a slew of terror attacks in Egypt and the Sinai since the military ousted former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. 

Among the attacks claimed by the group was the assassination of a top Egyptian police general, who was gunned down as he left his home in a west Cairo neighborhood, and a bus bombing on a tour bus filled with South Korean tourists in the Sinai. 

Meanwhile, IS terrorism has been linked to similar ‘copycats’ in Gaza, after several reports have surfaced that the group’s flags are flying in the region and that it has been behind rockets fired on Israel.

IS’s beheadings have become the global jihadist organization’s trademark over the past few months, and have become even more well-known after the brutal decapitations of American journalists Steve Sotloff and James Foley.