Deputies from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a Sunday arson they believe could be a hate crime.

The letters “KKK” were spray-painted on the side of a family’s pick up truck that deputies found burnt in the Town of Windsor — about 12 miles north of Madison — Sunday morning, according to a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

The truck was parked at the duplex the Hmong family moved to several months ago, the Associated Press reported.

Elise Schaffer, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said the truck was no longer on fire when deputies arrived, but the interior smelled like gas. 

Burns from the Toyota Tundra pickup truck’s interior indicate the car was set on fire, Schaffer said. 

Schaffer said deputies believe the fire was started around 1 a.m. Sunday. The family was not home at the time of the crime, she added

“They are friendly, nice people. I just can’t believe what happened out here,” neighbor Marvin Swedal told the AP. “We’ve never had anything like this before.”

Detectives are exploring the possibility this act of arson was a hate crime. 

“We’re not saying for sure that’s what this is, but it’s certainly a possibility,” Schaffer said. 

Schaffer said detectives spent a “good chunk of the day processing the vehicle for evidence.”

The evidence will be sent to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.

Lori Wirth, public information officer for the Madison Fire Department, said MFD is not involved in the investigation but added Madison sees hate crimes very rarely.

“I guess that’s why this latest event is news, because it isn’t something that happens frequently,” she said. 

According to Wirth, arson is also not typical for Madison, and most people do it for monetary gain.

Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office are talking to people in the area around the family’s home to find out if anyone saw anything or has any information that might lead police to the perpetrator of the crime, Schaffer said.