Graffiti which appeared to be a crude attempt to spell “ISIS” in Arabic writing was dismissed as a stupid prank yesterday.
A paved driveway at a new Albyn housing development at Smithton in Inverness was sprayed with the letters “ISI” .
Police said yesterday they thought the graffiti was a clumsy and unfunny effort to copy the self-styled Islamic State abbreviation rather than anything more sinister.
And their view was backed by Vali Hussein, imam at Inverness Mosque.
He said: “First and foremost the lettering is not complete.
“But I think it is also inappropriate and not at all funny to do this kind of thing because the Moslem community is a very integrated community in Inverness.
“We have lots of good people here and these things can unnecessarily cause issues in the community.”
Work has already started to remove the graffiti and yesterday only the outline of the 4ft letters were still visible and the stone driveway was slightly discoloured from chemical cleaning fluid.
The incident came to light yesterday as the first families moved into their new affordable homes at the £3.5million Beith Place complex.
A police spokeswoman said: “This would appear to be a crude attempt to copy Arabic writing.
“There is absolutely nothing to suggest that members of the public should be unduly alarmed by this.
Anyone with any information should come forward to police or report this on 101.”
Calum Macaulay, chief executive at Albyn Housing Society, said: “It’s very disappointing that Beith Place has been targeted by vandals.
“There is no evidence of it being anything other than a silly prank and with the houses getting occupied today and being handed over, hopefully we will not have this happening again.
“This new £3.5 million development has brought 25 much-needed quality new homes for affordable rent and low-cost home ownership to the city.
“Work is underway to remove the graffiti, and we are supporting the police inquiries.”