A Muslim community in Sweden that faced a series of Islamaphobic attacks recently has been taken aback after residents 'love-bombed' the local mosque in an outpouring of support.

After anti-Muslim rhetoric was scrawled into an Uppsala mosque wall yesterday hundreds of residents gathered to paste cut-out hearts and messages of support onto the entrance of the building, ahead of Friday's prayers.

The previous day police reported that a Molotov cocktail was tossed at the religious building fortunately failed to catch fire.

Hundreds gathered in the countries three largest cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo, to condemn the attacks across the country under the banner: "Don't touch my mosque".

The rally comes amid reports of attacks on mosques throughout the country.

In the south of the country, a mosque in Eslov suffered partial damage after a blaze that local police suspected was arson.

On Christmas Day five people were injured in Eskilstuna after a petrol bomb was chucked through the window of a mosque.

In the wake of the attacks, the acting police chief Mats Lofving told Radio Sweden that they were increasing monitoring of mosques, increasing dialogue with Muslim communities and assigning priority to investigating mosque attacks in cooperation with the country's intelligence agency.

The traditionally tolerant Scandinavian country has seen a surge in religious antipathy recently, as debate intensifies over immigration.

The Independent