A person set fire and vandalized an Islamic nonprofit organization in the Park Mesa Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles over the weekend, according to police.
Islah LA has fire and smoke damage, as well as hateful messages scrawled on its gates, after someone defaced the Islamic center on Saturday. Surveillance footage from the building shows someone outside the center’s fence torching some sort of material into the property.
“A sacred space, one that serves as a masjid, community center, and a school for our children, was violated,” the center said on its online fundraiser.
Islah LA is a center for community programs, prayer and civic engagement among the Muslim-American community.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers were called to the area shortly after 9:30 a.m. for a report of a woman spray painting walls and throwing objects. As a result, one person was taken into custody for assault with a deadly weapon.
Police did not release the name of the person who was arrested.