Sergeant Bill Alford said a small fire started at the rear of a Kings Avenue property about 10.50pm on Saturday.

“A number of toilet rolls soaked in some sort of flammable agent landed in the backyard of the premises and caught fire,” he said.

The fire was extinguished by the home owners before it caught onto a motor vehicle parked nearby and long grass.

“The damage was minimal, but it could have been a lot worse,’’ Sergeant Alford said.

“We are treating this incident as suspicious and asking for anyone who has any knowledge of what happened to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or St Arnaud Police Station on 5495 1000.”