Racist graffiti found on Preston Mosque

POLICE ARE looking for those who daubed racist graffiti on the entrance gates of a mosque in Preston, Lancashire – and they are treating the incident as a hate crime.

It is thought that the graffiti was put up on Thursday night or in the early hours of Friday morning on the gates outside the Masjid-e-Salaam mosque in Watling Street, Preston. Police patrols in the area have been increased in the area since the incident.

The offensive graffiti, which consisted of offensive words written in block capitals with black pen, has since been removed. The Labour councillor who represents the Fulwood ward, in which the Mosque is situated, tweeted that he was disgusted to see the hate messages. He appealed for members of the local community to help in the search for those who carried out the attack.

The Mosque seemed keen to let people know that its activities would continue as normal, tweeting: “Before and After… all cleaned up in readiness for the main Friday prayers. Our Mosque is open for all and do not harbour any evil for those who wish otherwise.”

The investigation is being led by Chief Inspector Gary Crowe of Lancashire police, who told the press that hate crime was not acceptable in Lancashire. He promised that his force was making inquiries to try to identify the perpetrators, including searching CCTV images.

•Preston police have asked anyone with information to contact them via 101.

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