Police investigate hate crime against Muslim California student wearing a hijab - as another in Louisiana admits she made up story about being attacked by a man in a 'Trump' cap

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A female Muslim student was targeted on a California college campus by supporters of Donald Trump because of her faith within hours of his election, authorities said – while another in Louisiana admitted she had fabricated a story about being attacked by a man in a ‘Trump’ cap.

Authorities at San Diego State University said the assault occurred in a parking complex while the woman was wearing a hijab.

They said two suspects targeted the student because of her faith and made comments about Trump's election.

She wasn’t hurt, but the suspects stole her car keys, and the vehicle was later reported missing, authorities said.

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A female Muslim student was targeted on a California college campus by supporters of Donald Trump because of her faith within hours of his election, authorities said – while a University of Louisiana (above, file photo) student admitted she had fabricated a story about being attacked by a man in a ‘Trump’ cap 

On Thursday, San Diego State University police said they are investigating the attack on its campus as a hate crime. The woman was not hurt.

In a statement, SDSU President Elliot Hirshman denounced the attack, calling hate crimes destructive to the spirit of the campus.

Meanwhile, the University of Louisiana college student had told police that two white men — one wearing a white 'Trump' hat — shouted racial obscenities as they beat her before they stole her wallet and ripped of her headscarf, known as a hijab.

But the Lafayette Police Department said in a statement Thursday that it is no longer investigating the 18-year-old woman's claims.

Earlier on Thursday, police said the woman told investigators she was walking near the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's campus on Wednesday morning when she was accosted by two white men who drove up in a gray sedan.

She claimed the men struck her several times in the back with a metal object, knocking her down and continued to beat her while she was on the ground. 

The student had claimed the men shouted racial obscenities as they knocked her down and stole her wallet and the headscarf. 

The 18-year-old Louisiana student claimed she was attacked on Smith Street (above, file photo) in Lafayette on Wednesday, but later told police she made the story up

Earlier on Thursday, Lafayette Police Department spokesman Cpl. Karl Ratcliff said investigators hadn't found any witnesses or surveillance video to assist them. 

‘The Muslim community of Lafayette is very ashamed that someone would make up a story so terrible, especially since this type of discriminatory violence is very real across the country,’ Nadia Khansa, a senior at UL Lafayette, told DailyMail.com.

‘We do not condone this behavior but we will use this as an opportunity to take preventative measures to ensure Lafayette's community is safe and civil.’

The American Civil Liberties of Louisiana had issued a statement, saying it was outraged and troubled by the Lafayette student's report.

'We call on all Louisianians to reject anti-Muslim bigotry,' the group said in a statement.

'Muslim Americans and residents have the same rights that we all do: to practice our religion freely and openly, to live and work without fear, and to participate equally in public life.'

And the university's police department issued a statement notifying staff and students about the student's reported attack.

Donald Trump (above, with Mike Pence) defeated Hillary Clinton to become president-elect in the early hours of Wednesday

In a separate statement that didn't mention the fabricated incident, university president E. Joseph Savoie called for unity after a 'long, contentious presidential campaign.'

'With the election behind us, we must now concentrate on trying to find common ground that will enable us to move forward— together — as a nation,' Savoie said.

Kareem Attia, a 23-year-old graduate student who is president of the university's Muslim Student Association, had said he didn't want to jump to any conclusions about whether the election results inspired the alleged attack.

'I don't think that's proper,' he said. 'But I will say a hate crime is a hate crime. It's not within our religion to accept it.

'It's not within our species of humans to accept that, either.'

Trump's shock ascent to the White House topped a vitriolic campaign in which he promised to ban Muslims from entering the US and pledged to establish a database of those living in the country.

His rhetoric - including repeated mentions of the threat of terrorism from 'radical Islam' on American soil – has previously been linked to attacks on the country's Muslims.

But on Wednesday, the statement the Trump campaign issued proposing a total ban on the immigration of Muslims to the United States had disappeared from the team's website.