A Mississippi church that investigators believe was intentionally burned down on Wednesday had been in a legal battle with the city over continuing to hold services in defiance of coronavirus lockdown orders. Investigators said the First Pentecostal Church of Holly Springs burst into flames shortly after graffiti was spray-painted in front of the building, reading: “Bet you stay home now you hypokrits (sic).” Jerry Waldrop, a pastor at the church for 31 years, filed a lawsuit last month against the city of Holly Springs after he was issued a citation for holding in-person Easter Sunday services, accusing local police officers of disrupting the church’s congregation. “We’ve tacked our brains and we have no idea,” Waldrop said. “No enemies that we know of. We don’t know anyone that we even think could be capable of doing something like this.”

A judge last month issued an order allowing the church to conduct services via drive-through, saying that the First Amendment guarantee of the freely exercising religion was “one of the most important ones set forth in the Bill of Rights.”