The Associated Press

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - Graffiti painted on the side of a mosque may refer to a victim of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, police said.

Members of the Islamic Community Center found "J. MCCOURT 4" painted on the side of the prayer hall Saturday morning.

One of the victims on Sept. 11, 2001, was 4-year-old Juliana Valentine McCourt. Juliana was killed along with her mother, Ruth, on United Airlines Flight 175 when it was hijacked after it departed Boston's Logan International Airport and then intentionally crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center.

The mother and daughter, who were from New London, Conn., were headed to California for a vacation and a trip to Disneyland.

Cuyahoga Falls Police Capt. Jack Davis said investigators initially thought the graffiti might be in reference to the war in Iraq or just a random act of vandalism.

But Davis said Thursday detectives are now looking into whether it may refer to Juliana.

"It does seem to fit," he said.

Dr. Ihsan Ul Haque, president of the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent, said the graffiti was not a random act of vandalism.

As for the message, Haque said he's still a bit puzzled. "It could be someone's misplaced grief," he said.

Around last year's anniversary of the terrorist attacks, seven bullet holes were discovered in a window of the prayer hall.

Mayor Don Robart said police officers already make hourly checks on the mosque in patrol cars, and now the city is considering adding foot patrols around the grounds.