Brisbane Islamic centre covered in graffiti

Council workers have started painting over graffiti on a Muslim prayer centre in Brisbane's south. The words "die" and "Muslims are evil and have no respect for our ways" were spray painted on the Indonesian community mosque on Cambridge Street, Rocklea, some time between 8.30pm on Tuesday and 3.30pm on Wednesday. The vandalism was discovered by members of the centre and reported to police about 7pm on Wednesday. Inspector Rob Graham described the vandalism as a "brainless crime", saying police were confident of finding those responsible. "We're certainly not talking about criminal masterminds here," he told 612 ABC Brisbane. "There [were] a number of pieces of evidence ... located in the near vicinity. Fingerprints and touch DNA are certainly going to shed some light and also this is a place where there is a high volume of CCTV activity and we're very optimistic we'll be able to determine who committed this offence in the near future."

The University of Queensland researcher told The Courier-Mail he smiled when he first heard about the incident. “Personally, I was smiling because it’s just a really stupid action,” he said. “I realise there are there are drunken people who do stupid things everywhere.” Mr Baiquni said members of the centre - which was purchased by the Indonesian-Muslim group last November - were hoping to raise enough money to build a mosque on the site. Residents supported the centre, telling The Courier-Mail the religious group were always “very nice”. They said there had never been any problems in the neighbourhood. Police said the forensic team had finished their examination of the area and detectives were now seeking CCTV footage and information from nearby businesses and residents.