Hate crimes in the U.S. are following a concerning trend — they’re on the rise, and this year, they’re on pace to set a record for the most in any year since the spike right after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

The main culprit, according to new FBI data released last week, is a rise in religious bigotry, which has resulted in numerous attacks on houses of worship.

That just happened here in Bloomington last week when police say 32-year-old Adam Walls caused more than $5,000 worth of damage at Bloomington’s Islamic Center, located just off the IU campus. Walls entered the playground area outside the mosque just after 1 a.m. last Monday night and spent nearly an hour vandalizing equipment. During his visit, Walls damaged several picnic tables, dumped trash cans over, broke metal fencing around the playground, damaged an air conditioning unit by pulling wires from it, broke one of the security cameras that points towards the playground, and broke several toys that were in the playground prior to leaving the area around 2:00 a.m. Nighttime surveillance video, provided by the Islamic Center of Bloomington, captured the action.

The local incident isn’t an anomaly either. Last week, a Michigan church was vandalized with anti-religious graffiti. In Washington, an Islamic center was set ablaze, with arson the suspected cause. Last week also marked the three year anniversary of the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend that isn’t likely to end soon, according to an IU professor.

Asma Afsaruddin, an Islamic studies expert, says the media deserves some blame in the spike.

“The media portrays Muslims as an alien group in the United States, even though through history we know that Muslims have actually been a part of the American landscape since Antebellum America,” Afsaruddin said.

Afsaruddin also said when people are misled with anti-Muslim rhetoric or untrustworthy news stories, some are more likely to act out as a result.

“People who don’t have access to better sources of knowledge and have been constantly fed this diet of misinformation are going to conceive hatred,” Afsaruddin said.

Afsaruddin’s full interview with IU NewsNet can be seen below.

Hate crimes are often sparked by some major worldwide event that shifts the geopolitical atmosphere, especially if it involves a large religious group. In August, the United States pulled their last remaining troops out of a conflict in Afghanistan that had dragged out for almost 20 years. That led to a massive surge in refugees wanting to flee the country, many of whom came to the U.S. for asylum. Over 99% of Afghanistan citizens are Muslims, and that large influx in such a short amount of time seems to be a driving factor in the nationwide rise in hate crimes.

Further expansion of legislation to try and mitigate the issue might be the next step for some states. Florida, for example, is considering expanding its laws to protect crimes relating to gender and disability, and would also cover those in association with victimized groups. Some cities in Iowa have already adopted ordinances, and now the state as a whole is looking at making those laws applicable to everyone.