A pig’s head has been thrown onto a Muslim community centre and mosque, leaving users “terrified” in what is being treated as an Islamophobic hate crime.

Worshippers at the Heatons Muslims Community Trust (HMCT) building in Heaton Mersey, Stockport, made the discovery as they left a gathering at around 9.15pm on Friday 9 December.

The animal’s head had been placed on a low, flat part of the building’s roof meaning it was easily visible.

Greater Manchester Police has been notified and are understood to have recorded it as a hate crime.

One of the HMCT’s trustees says the incident has caused a great amount of fear and distress among many the users of the centre, some of whom are children and some of whom are elderly.

Muhammad Tayyab Mohiuddin said: “I think they have picked that point in order to terrify people. Everyone knows someone has placed it there and what their intentions were.

“In our religion, we are not allowed to eat pig’s meat or handle it in any way so someone has done it specifically for that reason.

“We have a lot of elderly people and a lot of children who use the centre and obviously they are a bit terrified that someone is targeting us and fear in the future someone could go further or take a wrong step.

“We have spoken to the police and told them. We’ve been told it is logged as a hate crime.”

Mr Mohiuddin said the centre, which has been serving the Islamic residents of the Heatons for over a decade, has never had any issues other than two burglaries in the past year where a TV and donation box were stolen.

He said CCTV footage showed a car pulling up and two people, getting out one of whom was carrying what appeared to be a bin bag.

He said the car’s registration plate was captured on the dashcam in one user’s car meaning they were hopeful police would be able to quickly trace the culprits.

Police officers were expected to visit the scene on Monday afternoon – three days after the incident.

Imran Nazir is a regular attendee at the centre and told ITV News: ”We’ve got all the evidence, but the police haven’t been to collect this evidence.

”We’ll just lose faith in the police because they’re not taking any action.”

Asked what his message is to Greater Manchester Police, Imran Nazir added: ”Come and get the evidence that you require to investigate this incident.”

The Heatons Muslims Community Trust (HMCT) urged residents and worshippers ‘to remain vigilant and report any hate to the police.’

Greater Manchester Police said in a statement: ”At around 9:15pm on Friday 9 December 2022, GMP received a report of a hate crime outside a place of worship on Battersea Road, Stockport.

“An investigation is underway.”

Anyone with information should contact Greater Manchester Police or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. GMP can be contacted via gmp.police.uk or 101.

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