Vandals spray-painted graffiti at two mosques in the Southern California
Vandals spray-painted graffiti at two mosques in the Southern California city of Hawthorne and left a device that looked like a hand grenade in the driveway of one of the mosques, prompting police to investigate both incidents as a hate crime.
A bomb squad was called, and the area around the two mosques was evacuated after the device was discovered, police said in a statement. Investigators determined the device was a plastic replica of a hand grenade. The word “Jesus” was sprayed in white paint on the mosque’s fence.
Police and the FBI were investigating the vandalism, which appeared to have occurred overnight, as hate crimes.
On Friday, a mosque in Palm Springs was damaged in a fire that authorities said was intentionally set.
