Arson investigators will spend Friday morning at a church in St. Laurent that appears to have deliberately been set ablaze.

Fire broke out shortly after midnight at the New Apostolic Church on St. Croix Ave.

Firefighters were quick to arrive at the scene, and damage was very limited.

Nobody was inside at the time, and although the church is in a residential neighbourhood no other buildings were damaged.

When the fire was extinguished firefighters were able to smell gasoline or some other type of accelerant, so the investigation as to the source of the fire was transferred to the criminal squad.