Police are investigating after a vandal struck the Islamic Center of Tucson.
At about 3:30 a.m. Monday, a man broke into the building and ripped copies of the Quran, throwing them around the building before he left, according to a post on the center’s Facebook page.
Nothing was stolen and no one was injured, leading center employees “to believe that the sole intent of this individual was to damage the center’s religious property,” the post said.
Tucson police were called to the scene later in the morning and found no signs of forced entry, said Sgt. Kimberly Bay, a Tucson Police Department spokeswoman.
Security footage from the center showed the man being able to “shake the front door open” and throw books around.
“He illegally entered the building, but there’s no indication that the incident had hate or bias to it,” Bay said, adding that in previous vandalism incidents there, hateful messages were written.
“We won’t be able to know anything until we find and talk to the man,” she said.
Police are asking the community’s help in finding the vandal, and anyone with information about his identity is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME, an anonymous tipster hotline.
“Although we are disheartened by this incident, we understand that this is an isolated incident,” the Islamic Center’s post said. “The ICT has been a part of the Tucson community since the late 1980’s and since then, the Tucson community has been kind, welcoming, and supportive.”
