A person started a fire inside the vestibule of a predominately Black church in Maryland and also burglarized the house of worship, authorities said.
Firefighters responding to a call about the fire at Judah Temple Ministries extinguished the blaze just after 5 a.m. Sunday, the Anne Arundel County Fire Department said in a news release Monday.
A neighbor who reported the fire told investigators that “he observed somebody throw somebody through the window of the church” before the blaze ignited, Capt. Russ Davies, a spokesperson for the fire department, told the Capital Gazette.
No one was injured, but the Shady Side church sustained an estimated $10,000 in damages caused by the fire, the burglary, and damage to headstones, officials said. Authorities did not give additional details on what was taken from the church.
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The fire department is asking anyone with information about the fire to contact investigators as they attempt to identity and locate the person of interest.
The church was built over a century ago, WTOP-FM reported. It is located about 20 miles (32.2 kilometers) south of Annapolis.
