NORFOLK, Va. — The Masjid Ash-Shura mosque on Colley Avenue in Norfolk was vandalized between Sunday night and Monday morning with a series of black crosses spray-painted along the side of the building, but a group of volunteers quickly came together to help clean it off.

Police are in possession of a video that shows one man, at some point between Sunday evening and Monday morning, painting the crosses and then stopping to smoke a cigarette while looking directly at the surveillance cameras, according to longtime member Amin Mohamed.

Norfolk police could not be reached for comment on Monday. By midday, a group of about 10 volunteers came out to help clean it off, including members of the mosque and members of a nearby church.

“We appreciate what they did, to stand up with us,” Mohamed said. “It’s sad to see vandalism and stuff like that for no reason.”

“They came so fast, man,” he continued. “It was so nice — it makes you feel like we belong to the community.”

Gabe Harrell, who was among the volunteers, said he saw a photo of the vandalized building on Reddit and shared with others who joined in.

“I see it as a form of terrorism in the strictest sense — it’s intended to cause fear and intimidation in someone for practicing their religion which is something anyone should be able to do in the U.S. regardless of what that religion is as long as it’s not hurting other people,” Harrell said. “It’s like you’re looking at this thing that’s out of the deep south in like 1930 something — it was really really creepy.”

The group washed much of the black paint off but cleaned it so thoroughly they left cross shapes on the wall, so they will return Wednesday to repaint the building, according to Harrell.

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