Members of the Muslim Community Center of Kingston's Masjid Al-Hoda discovered a smashed window and anti-Muslim graffiti late Thursday. Police are investigating and are seeking the public's help.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. — A mosque near the University of Rhode Island campus was vandalized Thursday, an American Muslim civil-rights organization reported Friday morning.

Members of the Muslim Community Center of Kingston’s Masjid Al-Hoda, at 60 Fortin Rd., discovered a smashed window and anti-Muslim graffiti late Thursday.

The South Kingstown police are investigating. Capt. Joel Ewing-Chow released a statement saying a witness reported that a lone vandal wearing a hood and black clothing broke a window with an ax and then ran away.

South Kingstown and URI police arrived at about 11 p.m. but could not find a suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call the South Kingstown police at (401) 783-3321.

By Friday afternoon, the broken window had been boarded up, the bright-red graffiti had been washed down to a pink smear, and a volunteer was vacuuming the carpeted prayer area for a third time to remove any last shards of glass.

One volunteer said the wall would be pressure-washed before Saturday's 1:30 p.m. interfaith gathering. The vigil will be in opposition to all kinds of violence.

Community center spokesman Nasser Zawia says nothing like this has happened since the Muslim worship center was founded in 2001.

Zawia said he was "shocked because this is a very peaceful, beautiful community. I think this is an isolated incident and doesn't in any way reflect our Rhode Island community."

Zawia is dean of the Graduate School at URI and a professor of pharmacology, toxicology and neuroscience. He was a founding member of the Islamic center, which is separate from the university but attended by many Muslim students and faculty members.

If he had a chance to speak to the vandal?

"I would say you need to not act out of anger and hate. Ignorance can make some people make big mistakes in life," Zawia said. "We harbor no ill feelings, and we're willing to forgive."

The Rev. Donald C. Anderson, executive minister of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, said, “We join with all the other faith communities in Rhode Island in denouncing the vandalism that took place at the mosque in Kingston."

Vandals also struck an Islamic school in West Warwick last year. "Whenever anything happens to one of our traditions, it happens to all of us," Anderson said. "Whoever did this has no intention to try to create a more peaceful world.... They only care about causing more trouble and making the situation worse."

URI President David M. Dooley issued a statement Friday saying the "senseless act of hatred" would not intimidate the URI community, which is "honored to have the center here in Kingston." Its members "enrich our community with their presence," he said. "We must not blame entire groups of people for the horrific acts of individuals."

The Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism, expressed outrage at the vandalism.

"An attack on a house of worship strikes at the core of every American’s right to religious freedom and has no place in our society," Robert O. Trestan, the group's New England regional director, said in a statement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on state and federal authorities to investigate and to step up police patrols near Islamic institutions.

Eugene Dyszlewski, of the Religious Coalition for a Violence-Free Rhode Island, said in a statement that "such sacrilege is an affront to God and to humanity," calling it harmful to all religious communities.

U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha visited the mosque Friday morning to show support.

The Rhode Island Council for Muslim Advancement encouraged all to attend Saturday's vigil.

With reports by staff writers Edward Fitzpatrick and Donita Naylor, and the Associated Press