Federal authorities are investigating an early morning fire that damaged the entryway to the headquarters of the Republican Party of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

A fire damaged the entryway at the Republican Party of New Mexico’s Albuquerque headquarters early Sunday, which the party called “a deliberate act of arson.” The words “ICE=KKK” were spray-painted on the building,

On Sunday, the headquarters of the Republican Party of New Mexico was damaged in a fire that federal officials are investigating as arson. At a press conference on Monday, party leaders described the fire as a deliberate attack on their right to political expression.

The graffiti appeared to equate the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan hate group to ICE, the agency President Donald Trump has tasked to deport millions of illegal immigrants. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An early morning fire Sunday destroyed the entryway of the New Mexico Republican Party headquarters, which the group's leaders called a "deliberate act of arson."

The Albuquerque Fire Department has opened an arson investigation after flames broke out at the site just before 6 a.m. near where anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement graffiti was discovered.

The New Mexico Republican Party headquarters was targeted in a suspected arson attack on Sunday, according to party officials. At approximately 5:56 a.m. on Sunday, Albuquerque Fire Rescue was dispatched to the headquarters for a reported structure fire,

Federal authorities are investigating an early morning fire that damaged the entryway to the headquarters of the Republican Party of New Mexico in Albuquerque. KOB’s Tamara Lopez reports.