A Scottish woman dressed in traditional Muslim clothing had her blouse set on fire as she stood outside a designer boutique in New York.
The 35-year-old woman had been walking along Fifth Avenue on Saturday morning when she was attacked.
She was able to pat out the flame and flagged down police after noticing a man with a lighter in his hand.
The woman, who was visiting the city on holiday, is not believed to have been seriously injured.
The man fled the scene but the New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force is currently investigating the incident, according to the New York Daily News.
The attack took place just one day before the 15 year anniversary of the September 11 attacks and police believe the incident could be hate-crime related.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, spoke on the importance of the investigation.
“I would obviously be concerned because it’s symptomatic of the overall rise in Islamophobic sentiment in our society,” he told The Daily News.
“That’s based on the spike across the country in hate crimes and hate incidents, in recent days and over the past year.”
No arrests have currently been made.
Scots woman in Muslim clothing set on fire outside New York fashion store
