Updated

Vandals defaced a mosque in Nashville, spray-painting "Muslim go home" on the exterior of the building.

The Tennessean quoted Salaad Nur, a board member of the Al-Farooq Mosque, who said the act discovered Wednesday morning was unexpected.

Several crosses were also painted on the mosque and Nur said a hateful message was left at the mosque's youth center, claiming the Islam faith was trying to destroy the United States.

Metro Nashville Police Sgt. Brooks Harris said the Specialized Investigations Division will look into the incident as a possible hate crime. Brooks says the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have also been notified.

Nur said the incident was the first attack on the mosque.

A mosque in Columbia, about 40 miles south of Nashville, was destroyed by an arson fire in 2008. A Columbia man is serving a 14-year federal prison sentence in that case.