AN arson attack on a church in Belfast is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime.
PSNI officers were called after two men masked men set fire to The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Templemore Street, east Belfast at around 9.30pm on Tuesday, August 27.
The men, who were wearing dark coloured track suits, used an angle-grinder type tool to cut a hole in the shutters before a flammable substance was lit and thrown inside the building.
“Fire service personnel attended and extinguished the fire which caused damage to the shutters and the front hall of the building with further smoke damage caused inside the building,” a PSNI spokesperson confirmed.
“Both males are believed to have ran off along Templemore Street after the incident which is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime,” they added.
The police force has appealed to anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
“Officers are appealing to anyone with any information about this incident or who may have doorbell/CCTV or dash-cam footage from the area which may be able to help with the investigation, to call police on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 1852 27/08/24,” they state.