Unknown assailants on Friday set fire to a famous library owned by Father Ibrahim Sarrouj in the northern city of Tripoli.

“Firemen are trying to extinguish the blaze that erupted in Father Ibrahim Sarrouj's library in Tripoli's al-Rahbat street,” LBCI television reported.

The torching of the al-Saeh Library comes after reports that claimed the father had published a book deemed insulting to Islam.

Bashir Hazzouri, an employee at the library, was shot and wounded on Thursday in the old souks of Tripoli.

Al-Saeh Library is considered one of the most renowned libraries in Tripoli and the second largest in Lebanon.

Sarrouj says the library contains more than 70,000 books.