A council Christmas tree has been vandalised and set alight in an 'attack on Christmas' after a beer bottle filled with what appears to have been kerosene sent the tree ablaze.

The 10 metre tall Bankstown Christmas tree, the second tallest in Sydney, was damaged in the early hours of Monday morning.

Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said he was ‘gutted’ the spirit of Christmas had been attacked by 'cowards'.

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A 10 metre tall Christmas tree has been vandalised in what Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour is calling an 'attack on Christmas'. Cr Asfour is pictured in front of the damaged tree and is holding the beer bottle which is thought to have contained kerosene

‘I think we’ve got cowards that don’t understand what Christmas is,’ Cr Asfour told Daily Mail Australia.

‘I think this is a disgusting attack on Christmas and the spirit we’re trying to garner in Bankstown at this time of year.

CCTV footage shows two people running from the scene and heading towards Bankstown Train Station.

‘They’re cowards, there’s no other word. They’re criminals,’ Cr Asfour said.

‘I’m not going to tolerate these attacks on Christmas.’

Some residents are suggesting the vandalism is a symptom of ‘racial and religious tensions’ in the Bankstown area.

However, others wrote on the Our Bankstown Facebook page that people were ‘steering the blame on Muslims’ and that the blaze was more likely an alcohol fuelled attack.

The 10 metre high Christmas tree is the second tallest in Sydney or the tallest in western Sydney

Emergency services attended the Chapel Road tree around 12.40 in the early hours of Monday morning and extinguished the fire.

Around one metre of damage has been caused to the 10 metre tall tree, both NSW Police and Bankstown Council confirmed to Daily Mail Australia.

The branches of the tree are damaged and there is also significant damage to the electrical system powering the tree.

This is only the second year the tree has been put up in Bankstown, and was also vandalised last year when a steel pole was used to damage the baubles.

The Mayor told Daily Mail Australia that they were working quickly to have the seasonal tree repaired ahead of a Christmas lighting event on Friday evening.

The council is also urging those with the means to bring a wrapped present to leave beneath the tree for those less fortunate.

Police are investigating the cause of the blaze and are treating it as suspicious.

They are appealing to witnesses and urge anyone with information to come forward.

Some on the Our Bankstown Facebook page blamed the vandalism on racial and religious tensions in the area

Others believed the attack was more likely alcohol fuelled and clashed with those who believed it was caused by people who 'are not pork eaters'

Several who commented on the Our Bankstown thread regarding the vandalised Christmas tree said people were 'steering the blame on Muslims'