'Huge impact' reported by families affected by Watford Islamophobic graveyard vandalism
The Muslim community affected by the Islamophobic hate crime is seeking answers
Police have confirmed they are treating the desecration of 85 Muslim grave plaques at Carpenders Park Lawn Cemetery in Three Rivers as an Islamophobic hate crime, sparking widespread shock and distress within the local Muslim community.
The plaques, which were found damaged over the weekend, belonged largely to the graves of babies and young children.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, a volunteer from Wadi Funeralcare, the Muslim-run funeral service that was first alerted to the damage, Hussain, described the community’s disbelief.
He said: "We actually had a mother whose young baby we’d recently buried at Carpenders Park, who raised the alarm with us on Saturday morning. And then the authorities were involved from there."
Police have since confirmed the incident took place between 1pm on Friday 11 April and 5pm on Saturday 12 April.
Chief Superintendent Jon Simpson, Head of Local Policing Command at Hertfordshire Police, said: "We are continuing to investigate every line of enquiry into this terrible crime, which we are now treating as an Islamophobic act.
"During the initial stages of our investigation we explored several hypotheses as to how the damage may have occurred and for this reason, we had to be mindful of the words used to describe the incident in the public domain.
"However, now our inquiry has progressed we are confident that sadly, this was a religiously motivated act. We would like to reassure those affected, and the wider Muslim community, that we are continuing to treat this crime extremely seriously.”
Other Muslim burial grounds in the region had already been targeted in similar offences.
Hussain said: "The community is obviously quite shocked.
"Lots and lots of mothers that I met there when I visited yesterday, who’d obviously heard the news... have come to look at the graves and see what damage has been done."
The damage involved the destruction of name plaques, flower pots, and floral displays, with some reports suggesting topsoil had also been disturbed.
The cemetery is owned by Brent Council, although it is geographically located in Hertfordshire.
Brent Council Leader Cllr Muhammed Butt issued a statement saying: "Our thoughts are with the families of those whose graves were desecrated, I cannot imagine how they must be feeling at this moment.
"This is a very serious incident, and we continue to work closely with Hertfordshire Police to inform family members and bring the perpetrators to justice. It looks as though Muslim graves have been targeted, in what appears to be an Islamophobic hate crime. There is absolutely no place for hate or discrimination of any kind anywhere."
Families directly affected by the attack have reported feeling unheard and unsupported.
"They just feel that these things aren’t spoken about enough," Hussain added. "They’re not taken as seriously by the Council, by politicians, and that it will be in the news for a day or two and then it’ll disappear and nothing will be done about it."
Sergeant Irfan Ishaq, Chair of the Hertfordshire Association of Muslim Police, has been liaising closely with local officers and community members.
"Since the news of this religiously motivated act reached our Muslim communities, I have been listening to and recording their feedback and concerns," he said. "We completely understand their frustration at the delay in confirming it as a hate crime and stand with them in their condemnation of this dreadful incident."
“We recognise that news of this crime will not only impact the Muslim community, but those from all walks of life."
Efforts are currently underway to contact the families of those affected, with Brent Council pledging to restore the damaged plaques once the police investigation concludes.
Information can be reported by contacting Detective Sergeant Anna Cornish via email at [email protected], quoting ‘Op Lunate’.
Alternatively, you can report online at herts.police.uk/report, use the live chat at herts.police.uk/contact, or call 101.
For anonymous reporting, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org