Mask-wearing arsonists set a synagogue ablaze in a pre-dawn attack Friday in the Australian city of Melbourne, police said, sparking widespread condemnation.
The fire broke out at 4:10 am (1710 GMT Thursday) in the Adass Israel Synagogue when some congregants were already inside, police said, gutting much of the building in the southeast Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea.
No serious injuries were reported.
A witness entering the synagogue for morning prayers saw "two individuals wearing masks", according to Detective Inspector Chris Murray of the Victorian police arson and explosive squad.
"They appeared to be spreading an accelerant of some type in the premises," he said.
The synagogue was "engulfed in flames", he added.
"We believe it was deliberate. We believe it has been targeted. What we don't know is why."
Police will increase patrols as they hunt for the arsonists, who were wearing dark clothing, he said.
Detectives would be looking at CCTV footage and interviewing any witnesses, Murray said.
Television images showed firefighters hosing down the embers through the blackened door of the single-story building, which has a grey concrete facade.
A board member of the synagogue, Benjamin Klein, said a few congregants were sitting and praying inside when the fire started.
"They heard loud banging," Klein told AFP.
Liquid was poured inside the synagogue and set alight, he said.
"If this had happened an hour later, there would have been hundreds of people inside," Klein said.
The congregants "ran out the back of the synagogue. One man who ran out -- his hand got burnt," he said.
"The fire was extensive," he told AFP.
"Inside is completely gutted."
Books and furniture were destroyed, he said, vowing however that the community would "rebuild".
Members of the congregation formed a human chain to remove religious items from the damaged synagogue, including Torah scrolls -- one of which was brought to Australia from Germany in World War II, the Age newspaper reported.
Klein said the synagogue had increased security over the past 12 months amid safety concerns, without giving further details.
