Italian officials spark outrage after removing prayer mats from city hall

Members of the anti-immigrant party Northern League removed prayer mats ahead of a Muslim conference

Two right-wing Italian officials sparked outrage in Italy when they removed prayer mats from Turin city hall ahead of a Muslim conference.

"It's not as if people build a chapel whenever there's a Christian conference," one of the councilmen was reported as saying.

Roberto Carbonero and Fabrizio Ricca, members of the anti-immigrant party Northern League, faced criticism from local leaders in the Italian government who fear the influence of the growing far-right movement countrywide and across Europe.

Read: Italy seeks to block regional "anti-mosque law"

A tweet showed the two men removing the mats from the hall.

https://twitter.com/AndreaDoi/status/626049233758617601

Many democratic leaders condemned the actions of the two men and supported Muslims in the community. Further, Michele Paolino of the Democratic Party described the incident as "an arbitrary and violent act."

Italy has seen thousands of migrants and refugees arrive from the Middle East and Africa and the Turin incident is not first of its kind.

Read: With few mosques around, Muslims in Italy take to praying at supermarkets, car parks

Following the terror attacks on British beachgoers in Tunisia last month, the Northern League mayor of Lombardy called for mosques in the region to be shut down.

“I hope that we don’t have to witness a terrorist attack in Italy before realising that we have to tackle radical Islam,” Simona Bordonali, head of immigration in Lombardy, had said.

The Northern League is just one such party among several other anti-immigrant parties who exert a strong presence in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

This article originally appeared on IB Times.