Police said the pyre was set alight to 'prevent removal of the criminal material'
A man has been charged with incitement to hatred over an effigy of a mosque and Isis terrorist atop a bonfire in Northern Ireland.
The bonfire, in Moygashel in County Tyrone, had become the centre of a row yesterday after the display was first seen.
It displayed a mosque with the words "Islamic fascism" written in Arabic on the side, an effigy of a man holding an Isis flag and a knife, and signs reading "secure our borders" and "end the threat of radical Islam".
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) then arrested a 56-year-old man on suspicion of displaying threatening, abusive or insulting material which is intended to stir up hatred, adding that the effigy's placement was a "hate-motivated criminal offence".
He remains in custody, and was charged with incitement to hatred in the early hours of Friday morning.
Late last night, the pyre was burned amid reports contractors were moving in on the site.
A PSNI statement then said the force undertook "a significant and complex policing operation to remove a hate display" on the bonfire "at an advanced stage" when it was already lit.
"Had the bonfire not been lit police would have secured the site and removed the offending material and seized it as evidence," the statement continued.
"The Police Service of Northern Ireland's investigation into this hate motivated crime is ongoing."
Chief Superintendent Norman Haslett said: "Hate crime has no place in our society and will not be tolerated.
"That is why tonight we commenced a proactive policing operation to take action and remove the hate display from Moygashel Bonfire.
"In advance of police arrival the bonfire was set alight a day in advance to prevent removal of the criminal material.
"Where there is evidence that offences have been committed, we will take robust action."
The 56-year-old is set to appear before Dungannon Magistrates' Court today.
Late on Thursday night, a spokesman for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service confirmed the bonfire had been set alight, having originally been due to be lit on Friday.
Two fire appliances including a water tanker were also deployed to cool nearby buildings, according to the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
The Moygashel Bonfire Association earlier said it had "noted the predicable fury in respect of the act of political protest at our bonfire site this year".
A statement said: "This year we have focused on an issue of significant public interest.
"Our display may well shock, offend or outrage others, but nonetheless it is an exercise in our rights under Article 10 of the ECHR and we note with some irony that it is the ECHR which has so often paved the way for mass illegal immigration and a failure to deport foreign criminals who have come here unlawfully, that also now protects our right to protest in robust terms against that.
"If there was no uncontrolled illegal mass immigration, we would have no need to protest on this issue.
"Our display expressly does NOT target any individual. We make that very clear.
"Our opposition is not to people, but rather to ideology and Government policy.
"Once this is appreciated, then it is very clear this is no more and no less than an act of protest, which is lawful protected expression."
