Woman arrested for hate crime, allegedly set Novato church on fire

A Santa Clara woman was arrested for allegedly setting a Novato church on fire over the weekend in what authorities said was a hate crime.

The fire was first reported on Saturday at 6:30 a.m at North Bay Christ Church on Redwood Boulevard, with witnesses saying that they had seen a woman walking away from the fire, police said.

The suspect was identified as 61-year-old Denise Roberts, who authorities said admitted that religious bias motivated her decision to start the fire.

As flames reached close to 10 feet in height, multiple structures, including a nativity scene, Star of David and cross were burned, authorities said.

Read more: San Francisco Chronicle