A man accused of vandalizing a Philadelphia mosque with spray-paint over the weekend is now in custody, police announced.
Police have arrested Johnathan Boone, 47, for his alleged role in the vandalism of the mosque.
According to police, Boone was arrested after a14th District police officer recognized him in the video.
Boone has been charged with institutional vandalism, criminal mischief and related offenses.
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Philadelphia police investigated the incident after a vandal, now alleged to be Boone, painted messages about Jesus Christ and other Christo-Judeo messaging sprawled on doors and a refrigerator unit at the mosque at 7401 Limekiln Pike.
"We were totally shocked by what we saw," Masjidullah Center for Human Excellence resident Iman Idris Abdul-Zahir said.
Police said the incident occurred just before midnight Friday when a man, described as being in his late-40s and wearing and wearing a navy-blue hoody, dark colored baseball style hat with a tan backpack at the time, painted xenophobic slurs on the property.
According to a statement released by the local branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, on Sunday, security cameras caught images of a man spray-painting symbols and phrases - including "Jesus Christ" - on the walls and doors.
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Police said that the individual also painted the “stars of David," “John Christ," “a cross symbol” and, “say my name,” at various locations on the property.
NBC10 viewed the surveillance video that shows the vandal getting off a bus, approaching the building and looking into windows Friday night before starting to paint on the building.
CAIR called on local law enforcement officials to investigate a possible motive for the vandalism.
Monday night, Philadelphia police said the suspect was identified and taken into custody. They also said they will provide more updates on the man once formal charging is completed.
Faith leaders across the city denounced the vandalism.
"It seems as though that someone with at least a Christian affiliation, if not faith, did this," the Perfecting Church Pastor Kevin Brown said. "We just want to send a note to the Christian community that we don't love God better by hating."
In a statement, Mohammed Zubairu, president of the Philadelphia branch of CAIR -- and a member of Masjidullah -- called for a follow up investigation on the incident.
"We condemn this act of vandalism and urge local, state and federal law enforcement authorities to apprehend the perpetrator and to determine whether there was a bias motive for the incident," Zubair said in a statement. "All Americans should feel safe from harassment or intimidation at their houses of worship.”
