Petrol bomb thrown at Co Down mosque as police investigate overnight attacks

A petrol bomb was thrown at a mosque in Co Down in the early hours of Saturday morning, in an incident described by police as racially motivated.

The mosque in Newtownards was attacked at around 1am, with graffiti sprayed on the front door and walls of the building on Greenwell Street.

Police said the petrol bomb thrown at the property did not ignite.

Chief Inspector Hutchinson said: “This is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime, and I want to send a strong message to those who carried this out, that this type of activity will not be tolerated and any reports of hate crime are taken very seriously.

“I am appealing to anyone with any information or footage that could assist with enquiries to come forward and help to identify those responsible and put them before the courts.”

It comes as police said several protests in Belfast city passed off without incident on Friday evening, however, police said they are investigating a number of overnight reports of…