Islamophobic graffiti has been sprayed on the walls of a mosque in Cumbernauld.

The words "Saracen Go Home" where daubed on one wall, while the words "Deus Vult" where daubed on another wall next to it, which means "God wills it".

Police are treating the vandalism as a hate crime, which took place sometime between 8.30pm on Friday and 7.30am on Saturday.

The mosque which was targeted is situated at Craighalbert Way in the North Lanarkshire town, and is run by the Islamic Education Trust Cumbernauld.

The Latin phrase "Deus Vult" was the battle cry of the crusaders when Pope Urban II announced the first crusade in 1095.

Azhar Din, a trustee of the Islamic Education Trust Cumbernauld, said: "The graffiti has been sprayed on two of the walls and was noticed this morning.

"We have involved the police. We're going through the CCTV and have quite a few cameras around the place."

He added: "We have isolated incidents which happen when something kicks off in the news but we have more or less been quite fortunate and people have generally been supportive.

"We've had open days and lots of visits from people interested in seeing the inside of a mosque.

"At the moment we see the graffiti as a isolated incident."

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We can confirm that an investigation is under way following an act of vandalism at the Islamic Education Trust (mosque) in Cumbernauld and inquiries are continuing.

"This matter is being treated as a hate crime.

"Hate crime remains a priority for Police Scotland and we work closely with our criminal justice partners to do everything in our power to protect all communities and eradicate all forms of hatred."