SAN FRANCISCO— On Thursday, September 17, the building adjacent to St. Gregory The Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church was set on fire around 4 a.m. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire. According to a statement from the church, it housed the “Church office, Vasbouragan Hall, offices of various community organizations, and the local Hamazkayin library.”

Photos showing damage to the St. Gregory Church (via Armenian Church Facebook).

The San Francisco Fire Department responded quickly to the fire, but the building sustained extensive damage. The Church Board of Trustees and community leaders suspect arson and have been working with the San Francisco Fire and Police Departments to further the investigation.

“This act is the latest of a number of hateful attacks on our community in recent years, most recently the vandalism of Krouzian-Zekarian-Vasbouragan School in San Francisco,” a statement by the Armenian Western Prelacy read. The aforementioned school attack left the walls of the school painted with anti-Armenian graffiti.

St. Gregory set up a GoFundMe page to receive donations for the recovery of the destroyed building. They raised about $43,000 as of Tuesday, September 22, and their goal is to raise $100,000. The Church Board of Trustees said they would keep the community updated.