More than five years of relative calm was broken this week at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro by vandals who spray-painted profanity on the mosque and draped its door handles with bacon. Green graffiti messages with expletives were spray-painted in three places on the exterior of the mosque, located at 2605 Veals Road just outside Murfreesboro city limits.
One of the messages was on a side door, another was on the back side, and another was scrawled across the basketball court behind the main building. Messages also were spelled out with slices of bacon, and bacon was wrapped around one of the exterior doors. Muslims refrain from eating pork.
“The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro is deeply troubled and saddened by the expression of anti-Muslim hatred and vandalism against our house of worship and community this morning,” said Saleh Sbenaty, ICM spokesman. “We truly appreciate the immediate show of support and solidarity from our neighbors, interfaith partners and the community at large. However, we are still saddened that this happened in the first place.”
The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office investigated the crime and have contacted federal authorities, said Detective Sgt. Dan Goodwin. “We are looking for anyone with information about people who may have talked about defiling the mosque,” Goodwin said.
Source: http://www.dnj.com/story/news/2017/07/10/islamic-center-murfreesboro-van…
