Columbia's Islamic School vandalized again

The Columbia Police Department responded to a call at 7:20 Tuesday morning concerning a break-in at the Islamic School of Columbia-Missouri.  A small window by the door had been broken. The window is suspected to have been the way the door was unlocked from the outside, according to Lt. Dianne Bernhard.

“It’s unbelievable what happened, just unbelievable,” said Zuhnia Kozbar, principal of the school.

Before Kozbar unlocked the school Tuesday morning, she noticed a window had been broken. Before allowing students to enter, she notified the police. After their arrival she was allowed to inspect the building and found two computers missing from the secretary’s office and one from the principal's office. It appeared to her the safe had been tampered with as well, but not successfully broken into. Some personal items and cash were missing as well, according to Bernhard.  

Kozbar’s primary concern is not for the computers themselves, but for the information they contain, including administrative and student files.

“I wish who did this would send all the information back on a CD if they just want the computers. I care more for the records,” Kozbar said.

This is not an isolated incident for the school. Another break-in occurred last month, as well as a separate incident last year.

“We are going to do whatever we can to get to the bottom of this,” said Kozbar.

School officials hope to have results from the school's security camera tape within a day and a full security system for the entire building by the end of the week.  Additionally, Kozbar asks members of the community to keep their eyes open on behalf of the school.   

There are no suspects at the time, and the Columbia Police Department asks anybody with information to call CrimeStoppers at 573-874-TIPS (8477).