HOMER GLEN, Ill. (WLS) -- A Muslim civil rights group is calling for a hate crime investigation after Islamophobic graffiti was painted outside a family's home in Homer Glen.
The graffiti appeared to mock the Muslim phrase, "Peace be upon Him." The message was spray-painted on a sidewalk Monday.
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The Chicago Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations says vandals also covered the brake lights of the family's car with black paint.
The family has lived in the house for more than 20 years.
CAIR-Chicago executive director Ahmed Rehab said in a statement, "These kinds of cowardly attacks are designed to do one thing: make people feel unwelcome and unsafe, even in the sanctity of their own homes, for no other reason than their personal choice of faith. As such, these types of attacks are antithetical to our constitutional values, to the spirit of our freedoms and to common decency, and so must always be met with zero tolerance.
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"We call on the sheriff's department to investigate this incident with its full resources and resolve, and to increase patrols in the area. We call on those who are visibly Muslim, and their neighbors, to be extra vigilant and to report any suspicious behavior. Hate-mongering and fear-mongering as a way of life are a scourge on our collective security and prosperity and so require a united and defiant stance from us all."