Police search for suspect after hate graffiti painted on Toronto mosque

TRENTON, Canada

Vandalism at a Toronto-area mosque marks a "frightening escalation of Islamophobia" stemming from unfounded allegations that the mosque is an agent of the Iranian government, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said Thursday.

The vandalism last week at the Imam Mahdi Islamic Centre in Thornhill took the form of hate-motivated graffiti written in Farsi. The mosque has also received bomb threats and worshippers have been threatened, according to the NCCM.

But it is just one of the hundreds of examples of anti-Muslim incidents across Canada sparked by anti-government demonstrations in Iran after a woman was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s dress code and died in police custody, said the Muslim group.

"The Muslim community in Canada has been victim to over 1,000 Islamophobic messages on Twitter alone in just these past few days," NCCM wrote Thursday on Facebook. "These include death threats, threats of violence, and consistent harassment. Enough is enough. This must stop."

The group held a news conference Thursday to "address recent Islamophobic vandalism and threats directed at the community" and to demand that officials help curb the hate that is wrongly directed toward Canadian Muslims because of ongoing protests in Iran.

“Once again, the Islamic community is being pushed into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons,” said Nadia Hasan, Chief Operating Officer at NCCM.

Police have an image of the graffiti writer that was captured on security camera and have issued a description of the suspect. Authorities appealed to the public to come forward with information related to the incident.