PHOENIX — An arrest has reportedly been made after a Phoenix United States Postal Service mailbox was believed to have been set on fire Thursday morning, destroying a number of mail-in ballots.

Emergency crews were called to the USPS Osborn station near Seventh Avenue and Indian School Road around 1:30 a.m. Thursday where a mail collection box caught fire.

The Phoenix Fire Department said an unknown person started a fire inside the vehicle’s blue collection box and fled the area.

Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire, but investigators were later seen going through pieces of mail that had been burned in the fire.

“Approximately 20 election ballots were damaged, along with additional mail,” Phoenix Fire Department officials said. The postal inspector has since taken possession of the ballots and damaged mail.

Phoenix police say surveillance video helped them quickly locate and arrest the suspect, a 35-year-old man, on an unrelated warrant. While in police custody, he reportedly admitted to starting the fire, but claimed he “wanted to be arrested” and that his actions were not politically motivated and unrelated to the election.

A USPS spokesman and postal inspector told Scripps News Phoenix, “This doesn’t happen often and it’s rare,” and urged people to put mail in collection boxes before the last collection time each day.

“Postal inspectors are working with the local board of elections to ensure that any affected election mail is fixed and that other mail is directed to the appropriate parties,” the USPS said in a statement. “If you believe your mail-in ballot may be affected by this incident, please contact your local elections office to confirm receipt and identify ballot tracking options. If you believe your mail was affected by this recent incident, please file a report directly with the US Postal Inspection Service by calling 877-876-2455 (say “Theft”) or visiting www.uspis.gov/report.”

The USPS continued: “The Inspection Service takes all reports of election crime involving the US Mail very seriously. Postal inspectors promptly review and address all complaints of affected political or electoral mail. Anyone who steals, disrupts, delays or otherwise alters political or electoral policies. email should know that the full investigative power of the federal government will be directed at them, including postal inspectors, special agents from the USPS Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and prosecutors from the Department of Justice. approach ensures that American citizens can vote with confidence that their mail and elections, two of America’s most trusted institutions, are safe from criminal disruption.”

Scripps News Phoenix also reached out to election officials for information affecting those whose ballots may have been tampered with:

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer released the following statement:

“We are waiting for details from the law enforcement officers. We encourage all voters who have used that PO Box in the last 36 hours to check the status of their ballots at https://BeBallotReady.Vote. Successful delivery is usually reflected on the respective site within 72 hours. Voters should know that tomorrow, October 25 is the last day to request a replacement ballot. If a voter believes they have been affected by this incident, they can learn more about how to make that request at https://Request.Maricopa.Vote.”

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes released the following statement about the incident:

“I was alerted to the recent attack on a USPS collection box in Phoenix that damaged several ballots. Thanks to the quick coordinated response between election officials, law enforcement and the postal service, we were able to recover many undamaged and damaged ballots. voters will be contacted to ensure they can vote. Any attack that strikes at our democratic process has criminal consequences Phoenix Fire Department, Phoenix Police and Arizona USPS for their quick and efficient response that helped save many ballots in Arizona have already equipped the ballot boxes with security to prevent and detect physical attacks that protect and preserve the right to vote of every citizen”.

This article was originally published by Scripps News Phoenix.