Second US Hindu temple vandalised in less than a month

A Hindu temple in the US has been vandalised with several windows broken and the word "fear" painted on its wall, the second such incident in America's Washington state this month.

Vandals used bricks to break several windows and then painted the word "fear" on the wall of the Kent Hindu Temple late Thursday night.

Members who came to worship on Friday night were greeted by shards of broken glass after vandals targeted the building.

Regular visitors at the temple said they were not sure if they were targeted for their faith or if neighbourhood teens were just causing trouble, local KOMO-TV reported.

Both the FBI and Kent police have been informed about the incident.

This is the second such incident in recent days in the Washington state.

In the earlier incident on February 15, unidentified miscreants sprayed swastika and painted "Get Out" on one of the walls of the Bothell Hindu Temple in the Seattle Metropolitan area.

Executive director of the Washington state chapter of Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) Arsalan Bukahari said many of these acts of aggression target smaller religious groups that some "bigots" think are Muslim.

"Because they choose to target certain places, we have a hunch that it might be biased motivated," Bukahari was quoted as saying by the television station.

The Kent temple does not have any security cameras and information on the vandals remains elusive.

First Published: Feb 28, 2015 20:36 IST