Heerlen mosque vandalized with swastikas, hate speech

The Nour Mosque in Heerlen was defaced with swastikas and hate speech overnight. The vandals also threw a stone through the mosque’s window. It is the third vandalism at the mosque in three years, a board member told 1Limburg, adding that he wasn’t too worried about it.

The vandals drew swastikas on the mosque’s gate and signs. They also wrote texts like “Fuck Islam” and, translated from Dutch, “Get the hell out of my state,” “cancer Islam,” “Netherlands first,” and “Enough is enough.”

The mosque board member doesn’t feel threatened or intimidated. “A small incident took place. But that is normal with today’s youth,” he told 1Limburg. He suspects a teenager or two are behind the vandalism. “If you read the texts, it is level 1 Dutch.”

“The police have been informed and are doing their job, they will investigate. The mayor also supports us,” the board member said.

A mosque member posted photos of the vandalism on Facebook. “The person who did this should be ashamed of himself. Apparently, he had no education at home. This is a home for all of us. The home where we all went as children and still go to relax,” she wrote. “The doors are always open to everyone.”

The vandalism happened somewhere between 9:00 p.m. on Monday and 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday. The police will check camera footage to see if they can identify the vandals that way. The mosque will file a police report for insurance purposes.

The Nour Mosque is open as usual on Tuesday.