JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Investigators in Northwest Jacksonville are working to determine who threw Molotov cocktails through the windows of a day care center.

Smoke-charred broken windows are what the owner of Lula's Kids Day Care, Lula Jones, said she saw when she came into work Wednesday morning.

She said she smelled smoke as she opened the Edgewood Avenue building.

"I smelled the fumes and I didn't know what it was, so I cut off the alarm and then realized something was wrong here," Jones said.

A small fire had caused some damage to Jones' business.

Investigators said the fire was no accident. They said an arsonist tossed Molotov cocktails -- glass bottles filled with an accelerant -- through the windows of Lula's Kids Daycare.

Jones and her staff have been working around the clock to clean and to sanitize the day care in an effort to reopen next week.

"We might have to replace the carpet and some of the flooring, so it might be more, but we're going to do what we have to do to open up on Monday morning," Jones said.

Fortunately, the damage to the day care was minimal, with about $500 of damage was done to the business.

Nonetheless, authorities said they are taking the crime very seriously.

"From neighborhood vandalism to the potential that someone was doing this intentionally, this is a very serious crime as far as the state's concerned," said Lt. Robby Stephens, of the State Fire Marshal's Office.

The State Fire Marshal's Office said it is actively pursuing leads in the incident, trying to determine what led someone to want to burn down the day care center.

"At this point we are asking for the community's help and community's involvement," said Stephens.

Investigators are encouraging anyone with information to call 1-877-NO ARSON and are offering a $2,500 reward.