The head of the Democratic Unionist Party, the Reverend Ian Paisley, tonight condemned sectarian attacks on Catholic properties by loyalists in his constituency, and described Nationalist claims that he had failed to act as 'a diabolical lie.'
Five petrol bombs were thrown into the canteen and library areas of St Mary's Primary School on the Larne Road in the Harryville area of Ballymena, smashing five windows and causing £1,000 worth of damage.
The Catholic church in Harryville has also been targeted in recent weeks in paint bomb attacks.
There have been attacks too in recent weeks on Catholic homes and property in the village of Ahoghill where police issued families with fire blankets and in Rasharkin, in the heart of the DUP leader's North Antrim constituency.
Mr Paisley tonight hit back at criticism by Nationalists of the scale of his response to the trouble as a "diabolical lie."
He said: "My view on these attacks is a simple one...There are people in Ballymena who know who are doing this and they should be supporting the police and getting the PSNI on the job of brining these people to order.
Mr Paisley claimed there had also been a series of attacks on Evangelical and Protestant churches in the province and said a window was smashed at his own church in recent days.
Asked if he had a message for the culprits, the DUP leader said: "They should desist at once...They have no place in the community whatsoever."
"If they think they can speak for the people of Ballymena then they should stand for election and see what kind of response they get."
The PSNI believes the latest incident happened sometime between 3pm yesterday and 9am today. A statement said the police investigation was at an early stage, with a key line of enquiry being a sectarian motive.
The latest attack was condemned by Sinn Féin Assembly member Philip McGuigan.
The North Antrim MLA said: "Catholic homes, churches and businesses have all been targeted in recent months as unionist paramilitaries intensify their violent campaign in North Antrim.
"It is becoming clear that the DUP are failing to grasp the nettle of unionist paramilitary violence. They are failing to act to end the campaign and failing to show the necessary political leadership to allow us to move forward collectively in the time ahead."