A 43-year-old woman was arrested on Tuesday after offensive graffiti was found spray-painted on walls and vehicles at a Salvation Army compound in Singapore’s Upper Bukit Timah area, police said.
According to a police statement cited by The Straits Times, officers were alerted at about 9.15am to the graffiti at Praisehaven – The Salvation Army Singapore, located along Upper Bukit Timah Road.
Police said offensive words painted in red were found on the building’s exterior and interior walls, as well as on three Salvation Army vans. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Images shared later in the day on the Instagram page Sgfollowsall showed several vehicles and walls covered with large pieces of red and yellow cloth, apparently to conceal the graffiti. The post said a staff member discovered earlier that morning that the premises had been vandalised and that police were present at the scene.
When The Straits Times visited the compound at about 3.30pm, workers had completed efforts to cover up the graffiti. Traces of red paint were still visible on the white vans, although no police vehicles were seen in the largely empty compound.
Salvation Army Singapore public relations head Marc Lee declined to reveal the exact words that were spray-painted, saying they were “sensitive in nature and concerned religion”. He said an officer living at the compound discovered the graffiti at about 7.30am during a routine morning inspection.
In their statement, police stressed that they take a 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,” police said.
The incident occurred just days after a separate security scare along the same stretch of road. On Dec 21, a 26-year-old church volunteer was arrested for allegedly placing an item resembling an explosive device at St Joseph’s Church, prompting the cancellation of Mass services.
The item was later found to comprise three cardboard cylinders filled with stones, with red wires attached and bound together with black and yellow adhesive tape. The volunteer, Kokulananthan Mohan, was charged on Dec 22 with making a false threat of a terrorist act and is believed to have acted alone.
Police have previously said there is no evidence to suggest that the earlier incident was a religiously motivated attack or an act of terrorism.
