Burn marks stain the grass outside of Swedish artist Lars Vilks’ home. (AFP)
Muslim radicals torched the home of the Swedish artist Lars Vilks today. Windows had been smashed, there was minor fire damage to the front of the house and plastic bottles filled with petrol were found inside the property. Earlier this week Vilks was headbutted and tackled during a college lecture on free speech. Muslims are angry that Vilks drew the head of Mohammad on body of a dog last year.
The Washington Post reported:
The home of a Swedish artist who once drew a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad as a dog has been hit by a suspected arson attack, police said Saturday.
Lars Vilks, who lives in Nyhamnslage in southern Sweden, was not at home during the attack late Friday night and no one was reported injured.
It was the latest in a week of attacks on the 53-year-old cartoonist, who was assaulted Tuesday by a man while he lectured at a university and saw his Web site apparently attacked by hacker on Wednesday.
Police were alerted just before noon Saturday, as people passing by the artist’s house noted that several windows had been smashed. When officers arrived, they discovered plastic bottles filled with gasoline and fire damage on the surface of the building. Attackers are also suspected of having tried setting the inside of house on fire, but the flames are thought to have fizzled out.
Police have no suspects in the case, police Spokeswoman Sofie Osterheim said.
