Federal agents are expected to be in northeast Iowa today, looking over a church that was vandalized and burned over the weekend. The feds are launching an investigation to determine if the Saturday fire at Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Dubuque qualifies as a hate crime. The blaze hasn’t officially been labeled as an arson, but when firefighters arrived at the scene, fires were burning in several places in the basement and on the first floor. Later, beer cans were found along with spray paint and graffiti on the walls inside. Damage from the fire isn’t severe but smoke damage is extensive and may top 100-thousand dollars. Another Dubuque church fell victim to an arsonist in 1990. A juvenile was caught and charged.
