Rebecca Dantuono

The Republic | azcentral.com

Tucson police were searching for a man who broke into the Islamic Center of Tucson and damaged religious property early Monday morning, according to posts on Facebook by the center.

Police were called to the center, at 901 E. First St., about 6:15 a.m., according to Sgt. Kimberly Bay of the Tucson Police Department.

A man in his 20s was able to shake open the front door about 3:30 a.m., Bay said. Once the man was inside, he ripped up copies of the Quran and threw them around the prayer room before leaving, the center said in a Facebook post.

"Although we are disheartened by this incident, we understand that this is an isolated incident," the center posted. "The ICT has been a part of the Tucson community since the late 1980’s and since then, the Tucson community has been kind, welcoming, and supportive."

Anyone with information about the incident or vandal was asked to call 520-88-CRIME or go to 88crime.org.