Police investigate ‘desecrated’ Qurans left at Wybourn mosque

South Yorkshire Police are investigating two hate crimes reported by Wybourn Islamic Centre on Maltravers Road, the most recent involving a “desecrated” copy of the Quran left in the mosque’s grounds.

According to BBC News, CCTV footage shows a person approaching the centre’s gates at about 01:40 GMT on Sunday 25 October. The person placed the prayer book in the grounds. Police said it contained “graffitied hateful material”.

Two “desecrated” copies of the Quran have now been thrown into the grounds of the mosque. The police force said the centre had reported two hate crimes within a span of several weeks.

Mosque leaders respond

Mosque leaders described the latest incident as “the second religiously-aggravated hate incident” and said it had been “deeply hurtful and distressing to our community”.

They said that on one of the pages someone had written: “This is a human country. Kill all adult Muslims.”

The leaders urged people to “remain calm, avoid speculation and refrain from sharing unverified information”. They also asked that “an individual’s misguided actions” should not be allowed to undermine the peace, harmony and mutual respect in the community.

Source: BBC News