A West Kendall mosque had its windows smashed last weekend, sparking fear among congregants who believe the worship center is being targeted by vandals.

No one was inside the Islamic School of Miami, 11699 SW 147th Ave., when the two windows were broken late Friday or early Saturday, and there were no signs of entry into the building.

''Somebody walked up and broke them, maybe with a crowbar, and these are hurricane-proof windows,'' said Nidal Hussain, a mosque leader.

``The community is pretty upset.''

In another late-night incident six months ago, the mosque was sprayed with 51 bullets that left broken windows and holes in the building's golden dome.

Mosque members did not discover the broken windows until Tuesday because they are located in a rear area of the building that is used for storage, Hussain said.

Miami-Dade Police spokeswoman Aida Fina-Milian said a vandalism was reported at the mosque, but did not have other details.

Hussain said there is surveilance-camera footage of the incident, but it is ``too dark to see much.''

In June 2005, unknown assailants used a large rock to shatter the door of the Islamic center, which draws 500 Muslims for Friday prayers and has a 250-student religious school.

The year before, the center's sign near 147th Avenue was defaced with a Nazi swastika and profanity.

No arrests were made in the previous incidents.

After the shooting, police patroled the mosque for a week and officials paid for an officer to attend Friday services for three weeks.

Hussain said leaders have not decided if they will ask for police patrol again.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@