SINGAPORE, Dec 25 — A 43-year-old woman was arrested today after offensive graffiti was found sprayed across the walls and vehicles at a Salvation Army compound in Singapore’s Upper Bukit Timah area, police said.
According to a statement cited by Singapore daily The Straits Times, officers were alerted at about 9.15am today to graffiti at Praisehaven – The Salvation Army Singapore, located at 500 Upper Bukit Timah Road.
Police said offensive words, sprayed in red paint, were found on the premises, including the building’s walls and three vans. Investigations are ongoing.
Images uploaded to the Instagram page Sgfollowsall later in the afternoon showed at least three parked vehicles and two walls covered with large pieces of red and yellow cloth.
The post said a staff member had discovered earlier in the morning that several parts of the walls and vehicles had been spray-painted, and that police were at the scene.
When The Straits Times arrived at around 3.30pm, workers had just finished covering up the graffiti on both the exterior and interior walls, as well as on the white Salvation Army vans.
Remnants of red paint were still visible on the vehicles. No police vehicles were seen in the compound, which was largely empty.
Speaking to The Straits Times, Marc Lee, the public relations head at the Salvation Army Singapore, declined to disclose the words that were sprayed, saying they were “sensitive in nature and concerned religion”.
He added that an officer who lives on the compound had discovered the graffiti at about 7.30am during a routine morning check.
In their statement, police said they “take a very serious view of acts that threaten Singapore’s racial and religious harmony”.
“Such behaviour will not be condoned, and offenders will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law,” they added.
The incident comes just days after a separate security scare along the same road.
On December 21, a 26-year-old church volunteer was arrested for allegedly placing an item resembling an explosive device at St Joseph’s Church. Mass services were cancelled after police were alerted at about 7am.
The item was later found to consist of three cardboard cylinders filled with stone pebbles, with protruding red wires and held together with black and yellow adhesive tape.
The volunteer, Kokulananthan Mohan, was charged on December 22 with making a false threat of a terrorist act and is believed to have acted alone.
Police previously said there was no evidence to suggest that the case was a religiously motivated attack or an act of terror.
