The Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office has determined arson is the cause of a fire that gutted Trinity Baptist Church in Burlington early Wednesday morning.

Investigator Jim Gillespie confirmed with the Post the cause of the fire Thursday afternoon and said the fire marshal’s office would not be releasing where the blaze originated in the building at this time.

Nor could it state whether the case was being investigated as a hate crime or not.

On the back, leftside wall of the church building, the word “ISIS” was spotted by the Post and clearly visible in large, black spray-painted letters.

Halton police said it was aware of the graffiti, but stated it was too early to know if it was related to the fire.

There was no indication from police whether or not the case was being investigated as a hate crime yet, according to media relations officer Sgt. Dana Nicholas, as of Thursday afternoon.

As of Sunday night, church Pastor Carl Muller said he had no doubt in his mind the graffiti was not on the church wall at that time.

"(But) I don’t think it’s a religious hate crime," he noted, Thursday. "My impression is if this ends up being arson, my suspicion would be there’s a malevolent character who did this; to add insult to injury, writes a provocative word on the wall."

According to Gillespie, the investigation is essentially now in the hands of Halton police.

Burlington Fire was called the rural church at 4372 Appleby Line, just south of No. 2 Sideroad, just shortly after the alarm rang at 1:13 a.m. Wednesday, where firefighters encountered heavy smoke and flames.