Someone Handcuffed a Burned Qur'an Wrapped in Bacon Outside a California Mosque

As Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Fitr on Sunday, a holiday marking the end of Ramadan, authorities launched an investigation into a possible hate crime at a mosque in Sacramento, CA.

On Saturday, a citizen “flagged down” a sheriff near the Masjid Annur Islamic Center after spotting what appeared to be a defaced Qur’an outside the mosque. Per a press release from the Sacramento County’s Sherrif Department, the Qu’ran was burned, wrapped in bacon, and hung by handcuffs on a temporary fence surrounding the mosque.

The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department Central Area Station actually neighbors the Masjid Annur Islamic Center and the Department’s Community Relations Unit immediately contacted the center’s leaders to offer assistance. Hate Crime detectives have also opened an official investigation into the incident.

Bacon has become the symbolic insult of choice for would-be Islamophobes since pig meat is not halal and therefore inedible under Islamic law. According to The Sacramento Bee, a woman was convicted in January of breaking windows at the Islamic Center of Davis, CA, and leaving strips of bacon inside. Lauren Kirk-Coehlo was sentenced to five years probation after she pled guilty to a felony hate crime.

The Sacramento Bee also reported that police in Davis, CA, are investigating another incident at the same mosque Kirk-Coehlo vandalized. On Friday night, an unidentified driver tore up pages of the Qu’ran and littered them outside a car while passing the mosque’s grounds.