OGDENSBURG -- An Ogdensburg man was charged Wednesday with a felony hate crime for setting fire to a bench representing support for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community at a church Sept. 7, according to Ogdensburg police.

Francis V.G. Solis, also known as Dominic Solis, 47, was arrested at 5:34 p.m. and charged with third-degree criminal mischief: hate crime, felony, and fifth-degree arson.

Police said on Sept. 7at 3:06 a.m. they responded to a report of a bench on fire at the First Presbyterian Church, 423 Ford St.

Ogdensburg Fire Department responded and extinguished the flames.

The bench, which had been burned, was painted to represent the LGBT community, and was placed there by the members of the church to show their acceptance for people of all sexual orientations, officers said.

For more details and photos of the benches see story.

Police were able to obtain surveillance footage in the area and released it to the media resulting in several tips from the public.

Based on the footage released Solis turned himself in feeling that he would have inevitably been identified, police said.

"It was clear, after interviewing Solis, that he knew intimate details of the incident that only the individual responsible for the crime would know. He was subsequently charged. The hate crime charge comes as a result of the act being committed due to Mr. Solis’s feelings of what the bench represented, and his feelings of the gay community," officers said.