Police investigate vandalism at Renfrewshire mosque

Police are investigating vandalism at a mosque in East Renfrewshire that saw a pole thrown through a window while children were inside the building.

The incident occurred at Clarkston Community Centre about 17:30 on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the mosque said the vandalism had caused distress to “children, their families and community members.”

They added that the incident was part of “a troubling pattern that is emerging in East Renfrewshire and Scotland in general” of racist abuse towards Muslims.

Police Scotland are urging anyone with any information to contact them.

Humza Yousaf, who became Scotland’s first Asian and Muslim first minister in 2023, recently told BBC Scotland the country was becoming less tolerant towards immigration and multiculturalism.

His comments followed a wave of protests outside asylum hotels across the country during the summer.

In August, a teenager was sentenced to 10 years in custody after planning to carry out mass murder at a mosque in Greenock.

The 17-year-old was arrested in January after police caught him with an airgun and aerosol cans outside Inverclyde Muslim Centre.

Earlier this year another teenager denied vandalising a mosque in Aberdeen.

And earlier this month a hate crime was reported after a Muslim girl was allegedly attacked by a man as she walked home from school in East Renfrewshire.

Clarkston Community Centre’s was previously home to Stamperland Parish Church, but sold by the Church of Scotland after the parish amalgamated with another church.

It was then converted into a mosque.