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Police in New York are investigating the vandalism of a major Hindu temple as a possible hate crime.
A sign board and driveway of the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) temple in Melville, Suffolk County, was defaced with spray paint, the police said.
The vandals wrote "anti-Hindu" messages that also targeted Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, the police said. The incident took place between 7pm (local time) on Sunday and 6.30am on Monday, they added.
The Suffolk police said its Hate Crimes Unit was investigating the graffiti, which had “threatening and derogatory anti-Hindu messages”.
The graffiti was painted on the sign board and driveway of the temple, which was inaugurated in 2016.
The incident comes just days ahead of Mr Modi's scheduled visit to Long Island on 22 September, where he will address a community event at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Indian consulate on Monday condemned the incident and urged the US authorities to take action against "the perpetrators of this heinous act".
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, the organisation that runs the temple, held a prayer meeting at the site of the vandalism with US members of Congress Nick LaLota, Tom Suozzi, and senator Mario Mattera in attendance.
"There is too much hate," Mr Suozzi wrote on X following the prayer meeting. "Such acts of vandalism, bigotry, and hate are happening far too often because of inflammatory rhetoric by national leaders, extremism, and lack of accountability," the Democrat said.
"Acts like these are un-American and contradict the core values of our nation."
Leader of the temple Girish Patel said the incident left the community shocked. "Our place is a place of worship,” he said told NewsDay. “We strongly believe in peace, harmony and working together."
He said Monday's temple prayer was attended by public officials along with representatives of faiths including Christianity, Judaism and Islam. "It’s a good message that came out,” he said.
"Deeply saddened by the desecration of our BAPS Mandir [temple] in Melville an act aimed at inciting hatred against Hindus, BAPS, one of the largest Hindu groups in the US, said.
"Guided by our faith, we stand united against hate with compassion and solidarity."
The Hindu-American foundation has called on the US Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security to open an investigation into the vandalism.
Earlier in July, a BAPS Swaminarayan Temple in Edmonton, Canada, was desecrated with similar "anti-India graffiti", the local police said.
Another Hindu temple, the Ram Mandir, in Canada’s Mississauga was vandalised with anti-India graffiti in February.
