After a respite of one day, another place of worship has been subjected to attack by unknown persons early today.

The latest incident occurred at the St Elizabeth Catholic church which was splashed with red paint early this morning. This was confirmed by Kota Tinggi OCPD Osman Mohamed Sebot who said that the incident happened between 6 am and 7 am.

"There were seven marks of two types of paint on the church including on the main gate entrance, the front door, and the compound," Osman was quoted by Bernama as saying.

He said the individuals involved in the incident were found to have put two types of red paint in seven plastic bags before throwing them at the church, either from the front gate or from the side.

He said police found two paint cans in a drain outside the church fence, and added that the work could have been done by more than two individuals.

"We do not want to speculate and are investigating the motive of the incident including looking for witnesses. Anyone who had seen the deed is urged to come forward and make a police report, " he said

Priest wants swift action
According to priest Michael Teng, most of the paint was splattered on the wall and only a little paint was smeared on the back of the Mother Mary statue.

He added that the church was informed of the incident by a passerby at 8.30am and the Parish Pastoral Council chairperson John Lee lodged a police report after looking at the damage.

Commenting on the attack, Teng said, "I feel it is a very cowardly and despicable act. I hope the authorities will take action swift enough".

At present no one stays in the church and Teng said his home was 25km away from the church.

When asked if the church would employ someone for security purposes, Teng said:

"Actually Bukit Aman (federal police headquarters) had called and informed me about this a week ago... but I don't see the necessity because if they want to do it, they can do it with or without a guard here," he told Malaysiakini.

He also asked everyone to remain clam and pray for peace.

This is the first time a church in Johor has come under attack.

10 churches attacked
This latest incident brings to 11 the recent attacks on places of worship, with 10 affecting churches.

The last church to have been attacked was the SIB church in Seremban on Monday where some unknown persons had attempted to set fire to the door of the church.

On Tuesday a Sikh temple in Sentul suffered minor damages after some 20 garden stones were hurled at it.

The attacks on churches started last Friday when firebombs were hurled at three churches, including the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati which suffered the most damage.

No one has claimed responsibility over the attacks but these attacks are believed to be caused by a High Court ruling allowing Catholic weekly Herald to use "Allah" in its publication.

It was also discovered earlier today that the office of Herald's lawyer had been broken into last night.

[Reported in Malaysiakini]