A historic black church was burned and spray-painted with "Vote Trump" in Mississippi in the United States.
The attack comes just a week before the presidential election. Authorities are probing if it was a hate crime.
Greenville Fire Chief Ruben Brown Sr. told a news conference on Wednesday afternoon that investigators had determined the fire at the Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was "intentionally set".
"Samples and evidence have been collected from inside the church and are being analysed to determine the accelerant or ignition source," Brown said.
No one was injured in the attack but the church was extensively damaged.
"We're investigating this as a hate crime," Greenville Police Chief Delando Wilson said. "We feel that the quote on the church is intimidating," Wilson said.
"It tries to push your beliefs on someone else, and this is a predominantly black church and no one has a right to try to influence the way someone votes in this election," he said.
Wilson told the Wall Street Journal that police on Wednesday evening were interviewing a "person of interest" in connection with the fire but the individual had not been charged.
SUPPORT BASE OF DEMOCRATS
Black churches in the US South have long been a base of support for the Democratic Party.
During the US Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, southern black churches were often targets for arson and bombings by white supremacists.
"The FBI Jackson Division is aware of the situation in Greenville, and we are working with our local, state and federal law enforcement partners to determine if any civil rights crimes were committed," the agency said in a statement.
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