Islamic State supporters in Germany have been charged with looting churches and schools to fund the self-declared Caliphate and its jihad.

A gang of eight men were arrested in the city of Cologne. From 2011-2014 they are alleged to have stolen €19,000-worth of goods.

Prosecutors alleged they stole collection boxes, crosses and objects “dedicated to church services and religious veneration.” From schools they allegedly stole laptops and money.

The leader of the gang, a 26-year old Moroccan man, also uploaded a video to YouTube featuring him and others calling on Muslims to fight for the Islamic State.

It is not known how much of the funds reached the Islamic State in Syria.

In another instance of assaults on Christians by Islamist migrants, in a refugee-camp in Hamburg a 24 year old Iranian convert to Christianity was brutally beaten by Afghan man with a telescopic baton.

Although other refugees restrained the attacker, he managed to escape, saying what he did was not a sin.

These are not the first instances of violence associated with Islamist migrants. In August a riot broke out at a German refugee camp as a mob tried to lynch an Afghan man after he tore pages of the Quran.