ST. LOUIS (AP) – Police are investigating an incident in which a Baptist church in St. Louis was vandalized and set on fire.

The St. Louis Dispatch (http://bit.ly/29p9Vvj ) reports that officers responded to a building alarm at Greater St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church around 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Police say the building was on fire, the back door had been forced open, and that there was “hate-related” graffiti outside the church.

The St. Louis Fire Department extinguished the fire. An investigation by the St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson unit is ongoing.

A church spokesman wasn’t immediately available to comment on the incident.

Last year, there was a string of fires in St. Louis. Online records show the suspect is in custody after being charged with two counts of arson in those fires.