MUSLIMS in York said they were "crushed" when their place of worship was attacked by vandals.

Insulting graffiti was painted on the door of the mosque in Bull Lane.

Sheikh Zubair Ahmad, who runs the mosque, said he was hurt by the attack.

"We are not bad people," he said. "We want peace in the community, and we want to be friends with everybody.

"We encourage friendly dialogue, but not this kind of thing. It would have been for more effective for the people who did this to come and have a discussion with us, to see the mosque and remove any misunderstanding. If people keep away from each other then that misunderstanding will always remain."

The graffiti, which was painted on the door on February 17, has now been removed.

A police spokesman said the crime was being investigated.

David Wilkinson, of Fulford, who worships at the Bull Lane mosque, said: "My heart sank when I heard that our peaceful mosque had been vandalised. Disgusting and insulting graffiti was painted all over the door."

He said the graffiti had been painted on with a paintbrush.

"Someone had taken quite a lot of time over it," he said. "They wrote something very offensive about Muslims and about the Prophet Mohammed.

"We had some trouble here a long time ago, but for the last few years it has been nice and peaceful. It is so sad for this kind of thing to have happened here. It is disappointing and rather crushing." He said he believed the graffiti may have been linked to the publication of cartoons in a Danish newspaper, which led to protests from Muslim communities around the world.

"I just feel very sad that someone so misunderstands my religion. And I think sadness is a much better reaction than anger, threats, or insults, which are usually counter-productive. Whoever defaced the door of our place of worship should understand that we Muslims will always love and worship God, and try to help our fellow humans in the world."

Updated: 09:21 Friday, March 03, 2006