Editor’s Note: This story was updated on March 8, 2023, because an earlier version of the story did not meet CNN editorial standards.
Authorities are investigating fires reported at two Maryland churches as arson after three other churches on the same Washington, DC-area road were vandalized over the weekend.
A fire was set at North Bethesda United Methodist Church on Old Georgetown Rd. in Bethesda, Maryland, around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, leaving minimal damage, according to Pete Piringer, spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service. A spokesperson for North Bethesda United Methodist confirmed to CNN that fire had damaged the building’s fellowship hall and kitchen, as well as a hallway.
The nearby Wildwood Baptist Church also appeared to have been vandalized, Piringer said, after an investigator discovered debris on the road while leaving the North Bethesda grounds. Wildwood Baptist, however, did not appear to have been set on fire and the damage “was limited to the desecration of the graveyard adjacent to the church,” the church said in a statement.
The sanctuary at a third church, St. Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic Church, sustained a fire less than a day later. The fire and rescue service was called to that incident around 2 a.m. Sunday, according to Piringer, who said investigators believe the fire was intentionally set.
In remarks livestreamed Sunday, Rev. Samuel Giese told the St. Jane Frances de Chantal congregation that “people broke in, they overturned statues, tore down the stations of the cross, desecrated the tabernacle, and tried to set the church on fire.”
CNN has reached out to Montgomery County police for comment. Piringer declined to comment on a potential motive amid the ongoing investigation.
“These churches are within a few-mile radius of each other,” he said. “We can’t conclusively say right now that they are connected, but they are all very similar.”