A message at the scene that said, in part, “Bet you stay home now,” has led the police in Mississippi to suspect arson. First Pentecostal Church in Holly Springs, Miss., after the fire. Credit… Kelly Mcmillen/Marshall County Sheriff’s Office, via Associated Press.

The burning of a church in northern Mississippi is being investigated as arson because of a spray-painted message at the scene that seemed to criticize the church’s defiance of coronavirus restrictions.

First Pentecostal Church had sued the city of Holly Springs, Miss., which is about an hour southeast of Memphis, arguing that its stay-at-home order had violated the church’s right to free speech and interfered with its members’ ability to worship.

After fire-fighters put out the blaze, the police found a message, “Bet you stay home now you hypokrits,” spray-painted on the ground near the church’s doors, according to Maj. Kelly McMillen of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department. A photograph of the graffiti also appears to show an atomic symbol with an “A” in the centre, which is sometimes used as a logo for atheist groups.