BELEN, N.M.  Federal agents joined local police investigating a fire at a Catholic Church and are treating the incident as a hate crime.
According to the Valencia County News-Bulletin, the fire scorched two wooden doors to Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church, causing $4,000-$5,000 in damage. Investigators said an accelerant, such as gasoline, was used to start the fire. A third door, on the north side of the building, was saturated with an accelerant, but was not lit.
The fire was confined to the exterior of the building, but some inside smoke damage was reported.
Belen Police Detective Ben Sanchez said agents with the federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agency were called in because of the nature of the crime.
"I believe it is a hate crime and someone is trying to send a message," Sanchez said. "This was definitely arson  someone doused the north and east doors with what I believe was gasoline."
The Rev. Stephen Schultz told the newspaper he cannot understand why someone would set fire to the church.
"I couldn't believe it  I couldn't believe that somebody would do such a thing," Schultz said.
Police are looking into whether the fire is related to two vandalism acts reported by the church in the last two months. In November, someone smashed two framed pictures outside the church of the Virgin Mary and scribbled on them with a pen, the newspaper reported. In October, a few days before Halloween, someone entered the parish cemetery, located behind the church, and damaged about 25 wooden crosses and numerous gravestones.
