Moygashel: Bonfire with mosque replica placed on top set alight

A bonfire with a replica mosque placed on top of it has been lit.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the effigy was being treated as a “hate-motivated criminal offence”.

A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the bonfire had been set alight on Thursday evening.

The bonfire, in Moygashel in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, has featured other controversial displays in the past.

The effigy was placed on top of the pyre on Wednesday evening and the bonfire was due to be lit on Friday.

Police said a 56-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of displaying threatening, abusive or insulting material which is intended to stir up hatred.

The lighting of the bonfire comes after a day of condemnation with Justice Minister Naomi Long describing the effigy as a “nauseating spectacle of hatred” and called on the people who built the bonfire to take it down.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said it was as a “sickening and cowardly act of intimidation”.

In its statement, Moygashel Bonfire Association said the display might “shock, offend or outrage”, but said those involved in making it were exercising their right to freedom of expression.