What was seen on the camera today? Was there another pile of poop? I would still bet with considerable conviction that the culprit was the cat. However, it would first have to be determined which one it was. Since neutered tomcats often maintain a territory radius of about 3 km, this could be quite difficult.
Speaking of a verdict in a similar case: The former neighbors of my parents had a potent tomcat. This animal would always mark the corner of the house of the most quarrelsome old curmudgeon (sorry, but that’s exactly what the guy still is) with a beautiful marking spray. And that every damn day, always when the man was not at home. This went on for months. One must give him credit for having first snapped at the owners quite harshly (which was the friendliest version for him). Since these neighbors were not exactly among the most reasonable, they started a quarrel. My suggestion (at the time I was at the peak of my "seminar career" and totally into the topic) to simply neuter the animal and hope that the behavior had not yet become ritualized was dismissed. The poor tomcat was supposed to be allowed to keep his balls, that would be inhumane (hahaha). Eventually, the old man lost his temper for good (which I can honestly understand) and went after the animal with his very old air rifle (by the way, the man liked to shoot sparrows and the like off his fruit trees). To my knowledge, he did not take any softer measures. The animal was beaten and suffered a torn ear. The owners had to pay a hefty vet bill and marched angrily with the document to the culprit. They wanted their money back, he refused - a first-class war of roses ensued. It went to court! The court decided that the animal must first be neutered, the damage to the house had to be paid, and the shooter had to pay the vet bill plus a fine (how high I don’t know, but it must have hurt, he ranted fuming drunk about it at the village festival). I do not know the court’s reasoning, only the result. Unfortunately, the tomcat was still as stupid as his owners and marked the old man’s house again (he still was not neutered). "Luckily," the owners soon had a quarrel among themselves, separated, and sold the house. The tomcat moved out with them.