The Clayton Police Department is investigating an early morning fire as a hate crime.
Police responded to the 7500 block of Westmoreland Avenue shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday to find three vehicles with damage from a fire that appeared to be deliberately set. Officers also found antisemitic graffiti in the roadway.
No one was injured and police believe the victim was specifically targeted.
"There are no indications of any further threat to the community," the department said in a press release.
The FBI and St. Louis Regional Bomb and Arson Squad are helping with the investigation.
Danny Cohn, president of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, told First Alert 4 in a statement that the Federation's security team was assisting the Clayton police as well as the victim.
"This is more than vandalism; it is a hateful act of intimidation and the consequence of the dangerous rise in antisemitism," Cohn said.
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