Two men are on the run after they were filmed setting a convenience store alight in the city’s inner suburbs overnight.
Police are treating the blaze at Harry’s Mart on Chapel Street in Prahran as a targeted attack.
Manager Jazab Bashir told 9News he wasn’t sure why the business was deliberately set alight just before 4am.
Police believe the offenders lit a fire inside the store before fleeing the scene.
The fire was brought under control within 40 minutes by crews.
The shop is advertised as a convenience store that specialises in American confectionary but they sell cigarettes.
Bashir is yet to tell the owner, who is overseas.
“It looks like it’s been done to burn the place down because everything was fired up,” he said.
“Nothing was taken, not even the cash or cigarettes… nothing.”
There was no one inside at the time of the incident, according to police.
Staff estimate the damage bill to be more than $10,000.
Police confirmed that TaskforceLunar, the specialised investigators looking into the spate of tobacco fires, is helping the arson squad with the investigation.