On the 17th and the 22nd of January, the church of Notre-Dame-de-Fatima, the 19th district of Paris, was hit twice by unknown arsonists. The Newspaper "Le Parisien" reported that the door of the church was sprayed with a flammable liquid. Then, the perpetrators used newspapers to start a fire, which fortunately did not spread inside the building.
This was the first church attacked in a wave of arson attacks against churches in Paris between the 17th and 25th of January. An investigation has been started, entrusted to the Parisian judicial police, for "deliberate damage by means of an incendiary device because of religion". The police have not arrested anyone yet.
The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, expressed her support to the parishioners and said she stands by the Diocese of Paris.