A church in the French city of Orleans was attacked this week by unknown vandals who set partial fires, vandalised the interior of the building and wrote various “hate tags” according to police.

The Saint-Pierre du Matroi church in Orleans was the target of an attack by vandals on Wednesday, according to investigators, who said that the perpetrators smashed furniture within the building, set objects on fire, and wrote “Allah ou Akbar” on the walls, 20 Minutes reports.

After the blaze had been reported to police, firefighters were able to arrive on the scene and subdue the fire, ensuring that the church did not suffer major structural damage as a result of the attack. Police say they have opened an investigation and are pursuing potential suspects in the case.

The attack is just the latest church attack in France over the last several years, with another church in Toulouse being the target of attempted arson in May 2016.

Earlier this year in March, two young girls were arrested in the department of Morbihan in Brittany after going on a spree of vandalism in a number of churches and eventually attempting to set one on fire. When firefighters arrived on the scene they found ten separate areas in which fires had been started using papers and curtains.

Two Girls Arrested in France After Trying to Set Church on Fire https://t.co/LbSkASV9YR — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 6, 2018

The potential radical Islamic connection to the Orleans attack echoes similar incidents in France involving Muslims threatening Christian places of worship.

In May of this year, a Muslim man barged into the St Vincent’s Cathedral of Chalon-sur-Saône shouting at parishioners threatening to blow up the cathedral with a hand grenade and demanding the Qu’ran be read.

By far the worst attack on a church came in July 2016, when radical Islamic terrorists loyal to the Islamic State entered a church during mass in Normandy.

The attackers proceeded to murder elderly priest Jacques Hamel by slitting his throat, before being shot dead by French police.

Father Hamel’s last words were said to have been: “Begone, Satan!”