Police in Sweden are investigating the vandalism of a building owned by a Muslim group. A Swedish Islamic organization became one of the latest Muslim groups in Europe to be targeted by Islamophobic vandalism, according to media reports Monday. A pig's head was dumped outside a building owned by the Svenljunga Muslim Association in the town of Boras over the weekend. The words “Vive La France” were spray painted on the building's exterior. Although the vandalism was discovered on Sunday, reports of the incident didn't hit Swedish media until Monday. Police say they are investigating the incident. The vandalism is the latest in a wave of incidents across Europe suspected of being carried out by Islamophobic groups in retaliation to the massacre of 12 people in Paris, France last week. Two attackers stormed the Paris headquarters of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7, prompting international outrage. Two days after the attack, the largest mosque in the Swedish city of Gothenburg was evacuated after a bomb threat. Around 120 people were inside when an anonymous phone caller claimed the building was about to explode. A mosque spokesperson has stated the building's administrators have also received a handful of concerning emails. However, attacks against mosques in Sweden were also taking place before the Paris massacre. Over the past month three mosques have been fire bombed in Sweden in separate incidents. On Christmas Day, five people were injured when a petrol bomb was hurled into a mosque in the town of Eskilstuna. Source URL |
