(Joplin) – A fire early Wednesday at the Islamic Society of Joplin’s mosque is being treated as suspicious, according to police and fire officials.
The Joplin Globe reports that the FBI has been called in to join the investigation, and that security tapes are being reviewed by authorities.
A passer-by called the fire in at 3:37 AM. A roughly 4×6 foot area of the roof was burned, including a number of shingles. No major damage occurred.
Iftikhar Ali, president of the Islamic Society of Joplin, said he was at the property until about midnight Tuesday. He said he received a phone call around 4 AM about the fire, and he arrived shortly afterward.
This is the second suspicious fire at the mosque and community center since it opened in 2007. In 2008, the FBI took over an investigation into the torching of the sign for the mosque. That crime was never solved.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called for state and federal hate crime investigation concerning the fire.
Roughly 50 families are members of the Islamic Society of Joplin.