LONDON — Police officers and counterterrorism officials in Britain were investigating attacks on five mosques Thursday, including one in which a man took a sledgehammer to smash the windows of a house of worship in Birmingham, England.

After the authorities received reports overnight of the sledgehammer attack in north Birmingham, a similar episode was reported nearby, according to the West Midlands Police. Officers discovered damage to two other sites and received a further report later on Thursday morning, all from places of worship within a few miles of each other and in an area with a large Muslim community.

“The motive behind the attacks, which are being treated as linked, is yet to be established, but West Midlands Police and the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit are investigating,” the statement said.

Birmingham is one of Britain’s largest cities and home to one of its biggest Muslim communities: More than one in five people there have declared Islam as their religion.