Church bus set on fire on Rockford's Southeast side

A catholic school bus set on fire over the weekend has left school leaders wondering if they were the target of a hate crime.

Fire investigators say the bus parked in a parking lot behind Our Lady of the Scared Heart Academy in the 3200 block of 11^th street was set on fire around 3:30 Saturday morning.

Someone smashed the windows and tossed in several fire bombs which incinerated several seats and melted equipment inside the bus.

The vandalism has left school leaders searching for answers as to why someone would want to do this.

"They're all students, and all we're doing is scaring kids and damaging property that isn't yours.  If you have a political agenda, we don't.  We're here to educate kids in their faith," said Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy board president Louie Bageanis.

No one has been arrested.  Fire investigators are considering the fire to be intentionally set and believe it might be gang related.