A hate crime was reported outside Stockholm’s Grand Mosque on Sunday after a copy of the Quran was found chained to the railing near the mosque entrance with six bullet holes and a sticker bearing a threatening message reading “Thank you for the visit, but now it’s time to go home,” written in Arabic and Swedish. Mosque representatives confirmed the discovery and said the incident shocked worshippers and local residents, particularly given previous threats against the community. Swedish police classified the act as a hate crime, and Muslim organizations called for increased protection and official condemnation.

The incident follows a series of Quran desecration cases in Sweden in recent years. In 2022, demonstrations led by Danish Swedish extremist Rasmus Paludan, founder of the Stram Kurs party, involved repeated Quran burnings and resulted in violent unrest across several cities. Paludan was later sentenced by a Swedish court to four months in prison for incitement against an ethnic group. In 2023, Salwan Momika carried out multiple Quran desecrations, including outside Stockholm Central Mosque, events that led to unrest abroad and diplomatic tensions. Momika was later shot dead in Södertälje, according to Swedish prosecutors, after Swedish authorities had granted permits for his demonstrations under free speech laws.

Similar incidents have been reported outside Europe. In November, Jake Lang, a Republican US Senate candidate, attempted to burn a Quran during an anti Islam protest in Dearborn, Michigan, but the act was prevented by counter protesters. He later filmed himself desecrating a Quran using a pig’s head outside the EPIC mosque in Plano, Texas, on 13 December. These events have been documented alongside broader reports by Muslim advocacy groups of rising anti Muslim incidents in the United States and Europe.