Hate graffiti at Sussex home of soldier's Muslim mother

A Muslim woman whose son is in the Army has had anti-Islamic graffiti scrawled on the door of her West Sussex home.

Sussex Police believe N'jaimeh Jawara, of Tower Close, East Grinstead, was targeted because of her religion following the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in south-east London.

The graffiti daubed on the door said "Dead Muslim".

Police have appealed for information and said they were treating the incident as a hate crime.

Mrs Jawara, who has lived in her flat for nearly nine years, said: "If somebody is so ignorant to come and write this sort of thing on my door - he or she should have come and faced me and tell me face to face rather than writing it on my door."

She added: "I have no problem with nobody in this house. Truly, I am a true Muslim. I was born Muslim. My parents are Muslim. But in The Gambia, Muslim and Christians are all alike. We are like sisters and brothers. We don't discriminate."

She said she condemned the incident in Woolwich and had cried as she watched the news on the day of Drummer Rigby's death.

She said: "I felt it so much as if it was my own son because my son is in the British Army for 15 years so if somebody comes and does this to British soldiers, I feel as if it is my own son."

Mrs Jawara said she had not viewed the graffiti as racist because the perpetrator had not referred to her being black or African.

But in a statement, Sussex Police said two words constituting racially offensive language had been scrawled in black marker pen on the door.

Sgt Graeme Prentice said: "Hate crime and hate incidents are not acceptable under any circumstances.

"They are hurtful and can be very threatening, confusing and frightening and cause a lot of worry."