Police investigate suspected arson at Vancouver synagogue

Leaders of Vancouver’s Jewish community say they’re outraged after a fire was set in the doorway of a synagogue in the city’s West Side on Thursday night.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said in a statement that it has launched a criminal investigation of the incident at the Congregation Schara Tzedeck synagogue and believes an “accelerant” was used to light the fire. In its statement, it said the fire was an act of arson.

According to Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, a few members of the congregation were standing around the corner from the doorway outside when the fire was set.

“There was no one in the building at that particular moment, but it was … I would say within a 10-minute window of people being in the building,” Rosenblatt said in an interview with CBC News.

Read more: CBC News (Canada)