Officials with Minneapolis police say they're investigating fires at two separate mosques as being connected.
The fires happened Sunday and Monday, and no one was hurt in either incident.
"We will investigate these fires as if they are connected until proven otherwise," said MPD Sgt. Garrett Parten in a prepared statement.
The first fire caused damage to a mosque inside Mall 24, with surveillance video showing a man carrying a brown bag into the building and lighting it on fire.
Authorities say people inside the mosque chased the suspect out of the building and put out the fire.
"We averted a major tragedy," said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of Minnesota's Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter.
"The amount of liquid that he brought to cause the harm, this mall could have been engulfed," Hussein said.
The image from the surveillance video is posted on social media.
Minneapolis police officials say there will be an increased presence at the mall in the coming days.
The second fire happened in the Phillips neighborhood on Monday, not long after CAIR officials met with Minneapolis council member Jamal Osman.
Several people, including children, were evacuated from Masjid Al Rahma in the Phillips neighborhood, and no one was hurt.
Parten said the MPD is in contact with US attorney Andy Lugar about these two fires and similar incidents that have happened in recent weeks.
Records show FBI and ATF investigators have already begun looking into the Monday fire.