Unknown assailants have abducted a Sunni Muslim imam in eastern Lebanon, police said Wednesday, DPA reported.

Sheikh Mohammed Abdel al-Fatah al-Majzoub was taken in front of a mosque in Majdal Anjar, near the border with Syria on Tuesday.

Police said the cleric's turban was found on the ground and his white Mercedes was still parked on the side of the road when security forces arrived.

The army immediately threw tight security around the town and internal security forces launched an investigation.