Another 5G mast was set on fire in Belfast in the early hours of yesterday (June 11) morning.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the attack was deliberate.

It was the second such attack to take place in the Northern Ireland capital in the past week, noted RTE.

The latest 5G mast to be set alight happened in the Stewartstown Road area.

On Saturday (June 7), a 5G mast in the Springbank Industrial estate in Dunmurry was torched.

The attacks impacted mobile network service for local residents.

Northern Ireland has seen several riots and protests this week after a teenage girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by two 14-year-old boys. The riots have been centered around the town of Ballymena, north of Belfast, after a vigil for the girl turned violent.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service has reported 13 incidents involving masts in the area between January 2023 and December 2024.

"This is just one of a number of 5G masts that have been set on fire in recent months and we have attended two fires in less than a week to masts in the same area," said a police spokesperson.

"I cannot stress enough how dangerous it is lighting fire to electrical equipment. Anyone setting an illegal fire is acting extremely recklessly and putting not only themselves, but also members of the public, at risk."

Mobile UK: it's time to condemn the attacks

Mobile UK, the trade association for the UK’s mobile network operators -  EE, Virgin Media O2, and VodafoneThree has condemned the ongoing attacks in West Belfast.

"These senseless acts of vandalism are not merely property damage; they directly undermine the vital connectivity that underpins daily life, impacting residents' ability to access essential services, stay in touch with loved ones, and conduct business," Gareth Elliott, director of policy and communications, Mobile UK told DCD.

"We urgently call upon all authorities, both local and national, to condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. It is imperative that there is a heightened awareness of the critical infrastructure that these mobile masts represent; they are the backbone of our digital society, enabling emergency services, supporting local economies, and connecting communities.

Attacks against 5G infrastructure were common back in 2020, fueled by misinformation online. During the height of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, there were several false conspiracy theories shared online suggesting that 5G was causing the spread of the virus.

It led mobile operators to urge the conspiracists to stop attacking the infrastructure spread misinformation on the Internet.

In 2020, a man from Liverpool, England, was sentenced to three years in jail for setting fire to a telephone mast due to his belief that 5G was linked to the Coronavirus.

Last year in the US, a cell tower arsonist was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for causing approximately $1.1 million worth of damage at several towers. Sean Aaron Smith, set out to "destroy the 5G towers because he hated the government and believed they were spying on him."