A woman dressed in traditional Muslim clothing had her blouse set on fire over the weekend, the website DNA Info reported.
The 35-year-old woman from Glasgow, Scotland, was window shopping on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on Saturday when she felt her arm getting hot, the website quoted New York Police Department sources as saying.
When she realized her blouse was on fire, she extinguished the blaze by patting it out with her hand. She told police she then noticed a man standing beside her holding a lighter. Neither spoke, and the man walked away, she said.
The woman declined medical treatment, and has returned to Scotland, the website reported. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.
The incident occurred one day before ceremonies marking the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The N.Y. Daily News, which reported the woman's age as 36, quoted Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper saying a full investigation is vital.
"I would obviously be concerned because it's symptomatic of the overall rise in Islamophobic sentiment in our society," Hooper told The News. "That's based on the spike across the country in hate crimes and hate incidents, in recent days and over the past year."