The FBI says it is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of whoever wrapped strips of raw bacon on the door handles of a mosque in Las Vegas.
In a statement, the FBI said it and the Las Vegas police department are investigating the act of vandalism at the Masjid-e-Tawheed mosque as a possible hate crime.
Authorities are searching for a white male with dark hair, long thin sideburns, and glasses who was seen in a surveillance video placing the bacon at the mosque on the morning of December 27.
The mosque was empty at the time. No one was injured and no property was damaged, according to the FBI.
Muslims are forbidden from consuming pork products, and pigs or pork are sometimes used as an attempt to taunt or offend Muslims.
“This type of attempted desecration must be investigated as an act of intimidation and hate, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice,” said Ibrahim Hooper with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Earlier this month, a severed pig's head was found on the doorstep of a mosque in Philadelphia.
There have been more than 70 incidents targeting American mosques and religious facilities this year, according to CAIR.
The acts of vandalism have apparently grown in frequency after 14 people were killed by suspected Islamist extremists earlier this month in California.
