A Houston man has been arrested after being accused by authorities of trying to damage or destroy a Confederate statue at a Houston park with explosives.

Federal prosecutors said Monday 25-year-old Andrew Schneck had been charged with attempting to maliciously damage or destroy property receiving federal financial assistance.

Authorities say a Houston park ranger on Saturday caught Schneck kneeling near a statue of Richard Dowling, a lieutenant in the Confederate army, located in Hermann Park. His arrest came several hours after hundreds protested a Spirit of the Confederacy statue at Sam Houston Park, The Houston Chronicle reports.

Prosecutors say Schneck was caught with two boxes with duct tape and wires and with a bottle containing a liquid made up of compounds used as explosives.

1 / 4FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Houston Police work at the scene of a "law enforcement operation" led by the FBI on the 2000 block of Albans Road Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, in Houston. Andrew Schneck of Houston was arrested Saturday night, Aug. 19, after a Houston park ranger spotted him kneeling in bushes in front of the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in Hermann Park. He has been charged with trying to plant explosives at the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in the park, federal officials said Monday. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)(Godofredo A. Vasquez / AP) 2 / 4FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Houston Police work at the scene of a "law enforcement operation" led by the FBI on the 2000 block of Albans Road Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, in Houston. Andrew Schneck of Houston was arrested Saturday night, Aug. 19, after a Houston park ranger spotted him kneeling in bushes in front of the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in Hermann Park. He has been charged with trying to plant explosives at the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in the park, federal officials said Monday. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)(Godofredo A. Vasquez / AP) 3 / 4Houston Police Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite, in charge of the Homeland Security Command, works at the scene of a "law enforcement operation" led by the FBI on the 2000 block of Albans Road Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, in Houston. Andrew Schneck of Houston was arrested Saturday night, Aug. 19, after a Houston park ranger spotted him kneeling in bushes in front of the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in Hermann Park. He has been charged with trying to plant explosives at the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in the park, federal officials said Monday. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)(Godofredo A. Vasquez / AP) 4 / 4FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Houston Police work at the scene of a "law enforcement operation" led by the FBI on the 2000 block of Albans Road Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, in Houston. Andrew Schneck of Houston was arrested Saturday night, Aug. 19, after a Houston park ranger spotted him kneeling in bushes in front of the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in Hermann Park. He has been charged with trying to plant explosives at the statue of Confederate officer Richard Dowling in the park, federal officials said Monday. (Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle via AP)(Godofredo A. Vasquez / AP)

When confronted, he tried to drink some of the liquid, but spit it out, The Houston Chronicle reports. One of the tubes he had contained nitgroglycerin, a contact explosive in its purest form, and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, HMTD, a "highly explosive compound," federal authorities said in a statement.

"In its undiluted form, [nitroglycerin] is one of the world's most powerful explosives," the statement said.

The information came to light Monday as authorities evacuated residents near a home owned by Schneck's parents, where they found "significant hazardous materials," The Chronicle reports. The area is close to Rice University.

Philip Hilder, Schneck's attorney, declined to comment on Monday.

Schneck received five years of probation after pleading guilty in 2014 to improperly storing explosive materials.

From The Associated Press

Posted by Breaking News Producer Liz Farmer