"CLEARLY THEY DON'T LIKE US" ISLAMIC CENTER VANDALIZED TWICE IN TWO WEEKS (AUSTRALIA)

Vandals have trashed an Islamic community centre in Canberra's south, causing hundreds-of-thousands of dollars damage.



It is the second time the Canberra Islamic Centre at Monash has been vandalised in a fortnight.



Centre president Azra Khan says the facility was trashed some time on Sunday.



"They haven't left anything intact," she said.



"There's holes in the walls. The lights have been demolished, the main power board has been demolished. They knew exactly what they were doing, we can't operate any of the lights.



"Paintings have been ripped off the walls, artworks donated to the centre have been damaged."



There is graffiti on the external walls and the library has also been upturned.



Five television that had been replaced after the first attack were also destroyed.



Mrs Khan says they will meet with the ACT Government today to consider further security measures.



"I think it's because it's an Islamic centre," she said.



"Clearly they don't like us. Clearly there's a bunch of people who have been targeting the centre. I think it's the same people."



She says it is an unfortunate incident.



"Canberra is an extremely safe and tolerant community and the people here are welcoming and understanding," she said.



"Clearly we need more awareness raising and far more community support. More people need to come out and say this is not something we as a community want to tolerate."



Police are investigating the incident and are calling on any witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers.

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