A house in north Queensland has been graffitied with anti-Islamic slurs and set alight by vandals apparently angered by an innocuous Arabic welcome sign.
Slogans including "f*** Allah" and "is this where you hide the terrorists?" were scrawled throughout a Townsville home, with sections of the carpet set alight in an attempt to burn the house down.
Owner Shani Boag posted photos of damage to Facebook on Thursday after the break-in earlier this month.
Ms Boag, who has lived in the house for 10 years, said the slurs accused her and previous owners of having links to ISIS and terrorism.
"They saw this (Arabic welcome) sign over our front door. And they used it as an excuse to follow through with disgraceful actions," she wrote on Facebook.
The irony, Ms Boag writes, is that the text simply wishes people a peaceful welcome.
"How socially inadequate must you be to deface and set fire to any home, let alone one wishing you peace - at Christmas!," she added.
Ms Boag kept the sign, put up by a Pakistani family who lived there prior, to preserve the home's history and promote tolerance.
Townsville police described the vandalism as "idiotic".
"There's no reason for anyone in this town to take it upon themselves to be terrorist vigilantes, because they are way off target," Inspector Steve O'Connell said.
"It's so fortunate that the house didn't completely catch on fire."
The damage bill is believed to be more than $50,000.
It could have been worse had Ms Boag not extinguished the fire herself after arriving home to blaring smoke alarms.
Forensic officers are investigating, with police appealing for any people with information to come forward.
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