Owners of a restaurant in the Dutch village of Wijdenes suspect they were targeted by a racist arson attack after a fire destroyed their business early Tuesday.
The blaze tore through Ora Restaurant & Cafe overnight, prompting a large emergency response that closed a provincial road.
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Police have launched an arson investigation after discovering offensive slogans spray-painted on the remaining walls.
Security footage reportedly shows two masked individuals at the scene before the fire. The owners, who are of Turkish descent and requested anonymity, said the act felt personal.
“This is pure racism,” one owner said, noting they had no known conflicts. They expressed concern about a shifting social environment, pointing to recent national political rhetoric.
“This hurts a lot,” the owner added.
The restaurant had only been open for a year but previously operated for two decades as a popular wok restaurant under different owners.
The former owners of Tako's Wok arrived Tuesday morning to support their successors. They were shocked by the derogatory phrases left on the building.
“The fire is a shame, but that's just a building. Those texts I find much worse.
Especially because we ourselves are also foreign,” said the female former owner.
Her husband emphasized the neighborhood had been peaceful during their 20 years in the community.
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“I don't understand this at all, but it makes me furious,” he said, defending local residents.
Neighbors gathered near the smoke-damaged site expressed disbelief. “You don't expect this, especially not in such a village.
There has never been anything strange, I think. Many people from the village have eaten here.
It seems like a racist one-man action,” said one resident.
Another neighbor said he woke up during the night due to the fire response and found the explicit text highly uncharacteristic for the area.
“I can't imagine this happening in the village. I've never heard anything bad.
On the other hand, you only need one idiot. Nothing ever happens here, and now Wijdenes is in the news like this.
That's terrible,” he said.
According to NH Nieuws, police are looking for witnesses to determine if there is a definitive racist motive linking the graffiti to the fire.
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No arrests have been made.
