A man has been arrested after a suspected arson attack at a mosque, according to the Telegraph.
Sussex Police previously released images of two balaclava-clad people approaching the building in Peacehaven, East Sussex.
The pair are seen in footage appearing to spray accelerant on the entrance and igniting a fire.
A 46-year-old man remains in custody after being arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life on Monday afternoon.
Nobody was hurt in the blaze, but significant damage was caused to the mosque and a nearby vehicle.
Background
A mosque in Peacehaven, East Sussex, was set on fire on Saturday night by “arsonists in balaclavas”, in what police have immediately classified as a hate crime, according to GB News
Emergency services were called shortly before 10 p.m. after reports that masked individuals had set fire to a car and the entrance steps of the Peace Community Centre and Mosque.
Sussex Police stated that two people were inside at the time, including an elderly man believed to be the imam, but thankfully no injuries were reported.
Detective Superintendent Karrie Bohanna described it as a “fast-moving investigation,” urging witnesses with CCTV or dashcam footage to come forward.
The police said: “We are treating this as a suspected hate crime targeting the Muslim community.”
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Churches across the UK suffer similar attacks
While the Peacehaven incident has rightly drawn swift condemnation, Christian churches across the United Kingdom have also endured a wave of arson attacks, often without such immediate designation as hate crimes.
The speed with which the recent fire at the Peacehaven Mosque was officially described as a hate crime has raised questions about consistency and equality before the law.
Yet in numerous church arson cases, including those where Bibles were burned, crosses desecrated, or clergy targeted, police hesitated to describe the attacks as motivated by hate or received the same level of public and police attention. Such disparity gives the impression of a hierarchy of victims.
This raises a legitimate question: why are some faith communities granted immediate recognition and protection under hate crime provisions, while others are not?
Until police forces across Britain adopt consistent criteria in defining hate crimes, allegations of “two-tier justice” will continue to surface.
Lev 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
Over 9,000 crimes were reported at UK churches and places of worship between 2022 and 2024, including theft, vandalism, criminal damage and arson, according to the National Churches Trust and Countryside Alliance. Of these, 3,237 incidents were listed as “criminal damage, vandalism, and arson.”
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Among recent cases
In 2024, the BBC reported an arson attack on a church in east Belfast. It was described it as a “racially motivated hate crime.”
Two masked men used an angle-grinder to cut a hole in the shutters of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Templemore Street. A flammable substance was thrown inside and set alight.
Firefighters put out the blaze, which damaged the shutters and the building’s front hall. More smoke damage was also caused inside.
Meanwhile, at St Andrew’s Church,Twyford, Derbyshire , a fire in the vestry damaged a medieval oak chest. Police arrested a 23-year-old man and investigated it as a possible hate crime.
Furthermore, fire ripped through St John the Evangelist, Palmers Green , North London on New Year’s Day, It was confirmed as arson. Yet police did not label it a hate crime.
All Saints Church, Fleet (Hampshire), was gutted by arson in 2015. It took eight years and millions of pounds to rebuild the Grade II listed building.
Arrests made
Several people have been arrested across the UK in connection with arson attacks on churches.
In Northern Ireland, three boys aged 10 and 11 were charged over a fire that badly damaged the Church of the Holy Name, which police said they were not treating it as a religious or racially motivated hate crime.
In Derbyshire, police arrested one man over the St Andrew’s fire but later released him on bail. In Belfast and London, suspects have yet to be apprehended.
In Glasgow, a man was jailed for more than five years after setting fire to St Simon’s Church, Partick, which was almost destroyed.
Other arrests include an 18-year-old in Surrey charged with arson after burning church furniture, three teenagers in Hartlepool who admitted arson at a listed chapel, and a youth arrested in Wales following a fire at Newtown Evangelical Church.
The Fire Protection Association has warned that church arson is causing millions of pounds’ worth of damage, with more than 150 churches targeted over the past five years across the UK.
Deut 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
A call for justice and equal protection
Scripture reminds us: 2 Samuel 23:3 He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
Every act of violence against a place of worship, whether mosque, church, or synagogue, is an attack on the very foundation of Britain’s moral fabric.
If one faith community’s suffering is treated more seriously than another’s, then justice itself is wounded.
The Christian community calls for transparency, equality, and accountability, that every arson attack on sacred ground be treated with equal urgency and righteous concern.
Proverbs 20:10 Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
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Read and pray
READ: Deut 1:17a; Isa 28:9; 1Sam 13:14; Judges 10:13; Psa 9:17; Psa 37:9-10; Prov 13:23; Prov 22:8; Ezek 3:20. .
PRAY: Pray for for peace in East Essex.
Pray for our leaders to lead in wisdom and the fear of God.
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