A MOSQUE which was the subject of a vandal attack earlier this week is offering free food and a look around this weekend as leaders aim to tackle misconceptions about Islam.

Thornaby Muslim Association, which runs the Mosque on Westbury Street, Thornaby, has invited the public to take a look around on Saturday.

The invitation is a reaction to the vandalism, which saw the words “Muslim cowards” spray painted in large letters on the wall of the mosque in the early hours of Monday morning.

Supporters have rallied around the mosque, with one woman, Angela Gill, 37, spending the morning trying to scrub the graffiti off the walls after buying a tin of paint on Monday morning.

The council later removed the offensive wording.

Now the mosque has decided to hold the open day between 10.30am and 12.30pm on Saturday to allow people to “ask questions and clear misconceptions”.

It says: “Come visit your local mosque and meet your local Muslims.”

The mosque has been inundated with messages of support since pictures of the graffiti were posted on Facebook.

Zaheer Iqbal, who posted a photograph, said: “This is an invite to the person. If you are seeing this post to come and visit me and the Muslim Community. Come and learn about Islam from a Muslim not from the media.”

Mr Iqbal, who lives in nearby Stockton and has friends who attend Thornaby Mosque, said since posting the message and photo he had had many kind messages from people, with just “one or two morons” one of whom he had reported for hate crime.

A spokesman for the mosque said they had received a “massive response” and they wanted to invite the local community in.

“After what happened yesterday we all just sat down and decided to do this,” he said.

He said many people had stopped their cars after seeing the offensive graffiti and offered their help, and that the reaction from the local community had been “overwhelming”.

Cleveland Police is investigating the incident and reiterated “that this type of activity is completely unacceptable and we are treating it as a hate crime”.

They urge anyone who was a victim of hate crime to contact police, or the True Vision organisation. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Cleveland Police on 101.