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Imam Ali Mosque of the Islamic Center Hamburg (archive image)
Photo: Dwi Anoraganingrum / imago images / Future Image
The state security of the State Criminal Police Office took over the investigation after a paint attack on the so-called Blue Mosque in Hamburg.
On Saturday night, strangers threw several bags of red paint into the entrance area of the Imam Ali Mosque, a police spokesman said on Monday.
In addition, the walls had been smeared with red paint.
The Blue Mosque is operated by the "Islamic Center Hamburg" (IZH), which the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies as extremist.
Recently, the authorities had confirmed on the basis of documents that the IZH is an outpost of Tehran in Europe.
The state security is checking whether there is a connection between the paint attack and the new findings of the constitution protection, said the police spokesman.
The Shura, the Council of Islamic Communities in Hamburg, to which the IZH also belongs, condemned "any attacks of this kind on places of worship, regardless of whether they are mosques, churches or synagogues."
The Hamburg SPD described the graffiti as an "unacceptable form of political argument."
wit / dpa