Boston police, federal agents and the National Park Service are investigating an incident involving a fire behind the historic African Meeting House, a landmark that is part of Boston’s Museum of African American History.

The National Park Service said it responded to the African Meeting House during the early morning hours of June 3 after an unidentified person was seen on surveillance video opening a package that had been left outside the building. Authorities said the individual removed some of the contents and burned several items in a small alley behind the structure.

Officials said there are no early indications the incident was an attempt to set fire to the building itself, but the case remains under active investigation.

The African Meeting House, built in 1806 on Beacon Hill, is recognized as the nation’s oldest surviving Black church building and is a National Historic Landmark.

“This has been a distressing situation, and quite sobering,” museum President and CEO Noelle Trent said.

Trent said the package contained materials intended for upcoming Juneteenth celebrations. According to the museum, the person scattered and burned some of the contents behind the building.

“A small ember would be devastating, not only for this building but also for the community around us,” Trent said.

Investigators from the Boston Police Department, the Boston Fire Department’s Arson Unit and federal authorities are working to determine a motive.

Trent said the incident is particularly concerning because of the building’s historical significance.

“We do not have many buildings like this in the country, so we are a physical marker and a reminder of the community and what happened here,” she said. “If this goes, there’s nothing else like it anywhere else in the world.”

NBC10 Boston

NBC10 Boston

Mayor Michelle Wu also highlighted the importance of the African Meeting House and said the Civil Rights Division of the Boston Police Department is investigating.

“At a time of unrelenting attacks on Black history and Black communities, the Museum of African American History in Boston stands as a pillar of truth and conscience for our city and our country,” Wu said in a statement. “The African Meeting House — the oldest standing Black church in the United States — continues to be a home for important community convenings to this day. This disturbing incident of suspected arson is under investigation by the Boston Police Department’s Civil Rights Division, and hateful acts of violence will never be tolerated in Boston. The City of Boston stands firmly with Dr. Trent and the entire MAAH team, and we will not be intimidated in our work to make Boston a home for everyone.”

No injuries were reported. Authorities said additional information will be released as the investigation continues.

As plans are underway across the country to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Pittsburgh on Thursday unveiled details about its America 250 celebration on July 4, full of events, entertainment and amenities for all ages. Josh Taylor reports.

The search continues for a rare collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts that went missing after a visit to Connecticut College in New London, including a letter written days after the president’s assassination.

Sameer Somal, a Lincoln enthusiast, said the artifacts disappeared Tuesday after he accidentally left the folder containing them on top of his car and drove away following interviews with fellow Lincoln scholars at Connecticut College.

“The plan was to interview them, and I was going to show them some of these artifacts,” Somal said.

Somal said he has spent years assembling the collection, which included portraits of Lincoln, original Civil War-era newspapers, and an original invitation to Lincoln’s 1864 inaugural ball.

Among the items was a document Somal described as especially significant.

“There was a letter, which is particularly precious, written on April 17th, 1865, from General William Tecumseh Sherman about the assassination of Mr. Lincoln,” Somal said.

After realizing the folder was missing, Somal contacted campus security. He said he was initially told the folder had been recovered, but later learned security had mistaken it for a book that had fallen from his car.

“I proceeded to look in the dark in my state of disappointment and trauma,” Somal said.

The next day, Somal made the five-hour trip back to New London and checked with the police. He believes the folder likely fell on or near the Connecticut College campus, but it has not been turned in.

Somal said the loss goes beyond the monetary value of the artifacts, as the collection was intended to serve as a centerpiece for a future museum dedicated to Lincoln in Illinois.

Now he is asking whoever found the folder to return it.

“I will do anything to get these items back and anything to help someone else in life if I can just get them back,” Somal said.