ORLANDO, Florida: Titusville Police detectives have made an arrest in connection with the New Year’s Day vandalism of The Islamic Society of Central Florida Masjid Al-Munin Mosque.

Michael Scott Wolfe, 35, of Titusville, was arrested Monday evening in Titusville, and charged with criminal mischief to a mosque, a third degree felony.

The evidence revealed Wolfe, wearing camouflage clothing, entered the mosque carport at 11 p.m. and destroyed property with a machete and placed raw bacon in and around the front door. He was caught on surveillance camera breaking windows, cameras and lights with a machete at a mosque and leaving bacon on the doorstep.

Wolfe was transported to the Brevard County Jail. He is being held on a $2,000 bail. He is expected to appear before a judge Tuesday.

Prior to the arrest, the leader of the mosque said the act was not typical of city area Muslims call home.

“You can’t help but feel this is a hateful act. All of the negative media, the politicians who want to ban Muslims, close mosques...messages like that motivate people who have an illness in their heart,” said Muhammad Musri, who is based in the Orlando area and who oversees a network of 10 mosques as part of the Islamic Society of Central Brevard.

Musri, who in public comments has called on Muslims to build stronger ties with the communities they live in, was at the Masjid Al-Munin mosque in Titusville overseeing the cleanup from vandalism that happened overnight Friday.

It was the third time in less than a month that vandals have left pork products at mosques in the US, said the civil rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has called for state and federal investigations.

Other civil rights advocates are also calling on state and federal authorities to investigate.

“People are afraid to take their children back to the mosque...a machete was used,” said Rasha Mubarak, the Orlando Regional Coordinator for the CAIR. “They know we don’t consume pork. This is something that those who are Islamaphobic tend to bring up or use,” Mubarak said. Because of that, CAIR officials said it was an indicator of a bias motive in targeting the mosque.

It was also not immediately clear if police were looking at the incident as a hate crime, a classification of charges that would require an increase in penalties upon conviction. Musri, who over the years has had a number of outreach programs and conducted interfaith efforts, was in touch with the FBI, which investigates bias-related crimes.

The break-in happened about 11 p.m. Friday night but was reported to police about 6 a.m. Saturday at the mosque on South Washington Avenue, north of State Road 50.

It is one of four mosques in Brevard County and has between 30 to 40 people who attend services.

Titusville police said they were investigating “strong leads” in the case. The break-in comes amid a recent spike of vandalism reports at mosques nationwide, from a pig’s head left at a mosque in Philadelphia to bacon at an Islamic worship center in Las Vegas.