A black church in Mississippi was badly burned in a fire and vandalized with the words "vote Trump" on Tuesday evening, NBC News reported.
The fire erupted at Hopewell Baptist Church in Greenville about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, heavily damaging the main sanctuary, officials said. The pro-Trump graffiti was written on an outside wall.
Mayor Errick Simmons said the "hateful and cowardly act" was likely race-related, "an attack on the black community."
The local police chief said investigators were talking to a person of interest who lives in the area, but there is no surveillance footage of the fire, which appears to have been set deliberately. The FBI said it is investigating the incident, and federal ATF and Mississippi State Fire Marshal investigators were on the scene as well.