A man has been arrested after walking into St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York with two cans of petrol, lighter fluid and lighters just days after a fire tore through Notre Dame in Paris.

The 37-year-old New Jersey man allegedly pulled up in a minivan outside the landmark in Manhattan on Wednesday night, walked around the area, and then returned to the vehicle to retrieve the items, said New York Police Department (NYPD).

“As he enters the cathedral he’s confronted by a cathedral security officer who asks him where he’s going and informs him he can’t proceed into the cathedral carrying these things,” said NYPD deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism John Miller.

“At that point some gasoline apparently spills out onto the floor as he’s turned around.”

Security then raised the alarm with counter-terrorism officers who were standing outside, Mr Miller said.

Notre Dame before and after Show all 19 1 /19 Notre Dame before and after Notre Dame before and after The cathedral with the spire standing tall (left) and (right) after the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after As viewed from the Montparnasse Tower before the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after As viewed from the Montparnasse Tower after the fire AP Notre Dame before and after The heart and transept before and one day after the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after The nave of the cathedral before the fire Alamy Notre Dame before and after The nave of the cathedral after the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after The rose window in the cathedral before the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after After the fire a hole has been exposed in the roof above the window Twitter Notre Dame before and after The cathedral from the Seine before and after Reuters Notre Dame before and after Inside the cathedral before the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after The burning roof has left a hole in the nave Reuters Notre Dame before and after The nave after the fire was extinguished AP Notre Dame before and after Inside the cathedral after the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after A view from the Seine of the cathedral before and after the fire Reuters Notre Dame before and after An aerial shot of Notre Dame before the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after An aerial shot of Notre Dame during the fire shows the wooden roof burning and collapsing AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after Tourists gather near the cathedral and then seen afterwards Reuters Notre Dame before and after The spire of the cathedral is shown before and during the fire AFP/Getty Notre Dame before and after A scorched section of the exterior after the fire Reuters

The officers caught up with the man and he was arrested after he was questioned and his story was found to be inconsistent.

“His basic story was he was cutting through the cathedral to get to Madison Avenue,” said Mr Miller.

“That his car had run out of gas. We took a look at the vehicle – it was not out of gas and at that point he was taken into custody.”

He added: “It’s hard to say exactly what his intentions were, but I think the totality of circumstances of an individual walking into an iconic location like St Patrick’s Cathedral carrying over four gallons of gasoline, two bottles of lighter fluid and lighters is something that we would have great concern over.”

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Mr Miller said the suspect is known to police and officers are currently looking into his background.

St Patrick’s Cathedral was built in 1878 and has installed a sprinkler-like system during recent renovations. Its wooden roof is also coated with fire retardant.

Much of Notre Dame Cathedral’s roof was damaged and its spire collapsed after a fire broke out at about 6.43pm local time on Monday.

It is not yet clear what caused the blaze, which took firefighters 15 hours to put out.

French president Emmanuel Macron vowed the 850-year-old Gothic landmark would be rebuilt within five years.