A model of a mosque positioned on a bonfire in a pro-British community near Belfast was set ablaze Thursday night before officers could dismantle what they labeled a hate display, prompting condemnation from politicians throughout the region.

Bonfires are traditionally lit across the British province in mainly Protestant loyalist districts on the eve of July 12 events marking William of Orange's 1690 victory over the Roman Catholic King James at the Battle of the Boyne.

The replica mosque atop a tall wooden pallet structure, built a month after anti-migrant unrest hit Belfast, was scheduled for lighting before large crowds on Friday but was ignited early as police prepared its removal, organizers stated on social media.

Had the bonfire remained unlit, officers would have secured the area and taken the offending items as evidence. Hate crime has no place in our society and will not be tolerated, Police Chief Superintendent Norman Haslett said in a statement.

A 56-year-old man charged with incitement to hatred is expected to appear in court on Friday.

Politicians condemn anti-migrant imagery and violence

Britain's minister for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn, described the display on Thursday as a sickening and cowardly act of intimidation.

Anti-migrant imagery has in some cases replaced pictures and effigies of Catholic Irish politicians and anti-Catholic slogans often seen on certain bonfires.

A model of refugees in a boat was burned last year at the same Moygashel site, 65 km west of Belfast. That incident also followed attacks on migrant homes.

Rioters targeted homes and businesses of ethnic minorities last month after a viral video showed a stabbing that left a man without an eye. Police say a man from Sudan or Chad faces attempted murder charges.

The replica mosque featured an effigy in one window holding what appeared to be a knife, with banners below reading secure our borders and end the threat of radical Islam.