A mosque in Scotland’s North Lanarkshire council area has been spray painted with racist remarks, marking yet another instance of hate crime against Muslims living in the UK.
The Islamic Education Trust mosque, located in the city of Cumbernauld, was defaced with the words “Saracen Go Home” and the term “Deus Vult,” translated from Latin as “God Willing,” British media outlets reported Saturday.
The terms were originally used by Christian soldiers and writers during the Crusades. However, anti-Islam groups have brought them back to life over the past years.
The Scottish police said they were treating the case as a hate crime and believe it happened sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning.
"This matter is being treated as a hate crime. Hate crime remains a priority for Police Scotland and we are working closely with our criminal justice partners to do everything in our power to protect all communities and eradicate all forms of hatred,” a Police Scotland spokesperson said.
According to Azhar Din, a trustee of the Islamic Education Trust Cumbernauld, which runs the mosque (pictured below), said police were examining footage from the mosque’s surveillance cameras.
“The graffiti has been sprayed on two of the walls and was noticed this morning. It was discovered when the first people arrived for morning prayers at about half past seven this morning,” he said Saturday.
“It has been reported to the police. It is very unusual to have this kind of thing in Cumbernauld and people are very worried by it,” headed.
In September, a mosque in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh was damaged in an attempted arson attack.
The attack caused no injuries but burned parts of the garden area surrounding the place of worship.
According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), hate crime rates in the UK-- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- have surged by 500 percent following the June vote by 52 percent of Britons to leave the European Union (EU).
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