American mosque receives hand-written bomb threat - sent 4,000 miles away in Sheffield

The Masjid Bilal, in Lexington Kentucky, received the threatening letter in the post containing a green index card wrapped in a blank sheet of paper.

Written on the card were the words, "An explosive device will be placed at your mosque very soon!"

In a Facebook post, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called on the state and federal law enforcement to investigate the bomb threat as a "hate crime".

The Lexington Herald report that the letter, sent from Sheffield, was opened by mosque president Salah Elbakoush who was busy preparing for a family night for its 250-300 members.

Lexington Police have advised the mosque's staff to start a daily walk-through of its facility.

The CAIR Kentucky chapter was recently opened ago and is led by Waheedah Muhammad who said there were 20,000 Muslims living in the state, 6,000 of them in Lexington.

Similar threats have been sent recently to mosques in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Viriginia, according to the CAIR, who have urged American Muslims and Islamic institutions to take extra security precautions.

In February, South Yorkshire Police launched an investigation into a "hate" letter sent to the Jamia Masjid mosque in Rotherham.