Erdington (Web Desk): A man with a sledgehammer allegedly vandalised at least five mosques in Birmingham, BBC reported.
Reports of a man smashing windows with a sledgehammer on Birchfield Road were received at 02:30 GMT, police said.
Officers were then alerted to a similar attack in Erdington about 45 minutes later, with more in Aston and Perry Barr reported. Another on Albert Road was struck at 10:00 GMT.
West Midlands Police said it was yet to establish a motive.
Officers from its Counter Terrorism Unit were investigating, the force said.
Yousef Zaman, chairman of Masjid Faizul Islam mosque in Aston, said: "My initial reaction was shock that this had happened.
"There's a fear factor now in that adults are saying they're going to keep their children away from the mosque today because they're worried that it's not safe.
The Birmingham Council of Mosques said that at least five mosques had been damaged. "We were deeply horrified to hear a number of mosques were vandalised during the early hours of this morning. Birmingham's mosques are a place of worship, serenity and a source of peace and tranquillity. We are appalled by such acts of hate/terror," the council's statement quoted by BBC said.
Deeply concerning & distressing to see number of mosques have been vandalised in Birmingham overnight. @WMPolice are investigating motive but let me be clear - hateful behaviour has absolutely no place in our society & will never be accepted https://t.co/G9EFerOt9W
— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) March 21, 2019
Police have yet to ascertain the motive of the suspect. The Counter-Terrorism Unit is investigating the incident.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said it was "deeply concerning and distressing to see a number of mosques have been vandalised in Birmingham overnight".
Police are investigating the motive behind the attacks, he stated. "Let me be clear, hateful behaviour has absolutely no place in our society and will never be accepted."
