( CNN ) -- Authorities have issued sketches of three people sought in connection with the spate of eastern Texas church fires . The Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives released the drawings Friday at a news conference in Tyler , Texas . We have a serial arsonist out there , '' said Robert Champion , special agent in charge of ATF 's Dallas , Texas , office . `` We need help from the public . '' There have been a total of 11 church fires so far this year , 10 of them found to be deliberately set . There is no clear theme linking the fires , which have struck churches of different denominations , including Baptist , Methodist and Church of Christ Scientist , on different days of the week and at different times of the day . While the churches are located in small towns , not all of them are in remote locations . Police patrols have been stepped up near churches , and in some cases church members are staying at their churches to protect them or patrolling around the churches themselves . `` I think maybe I would characterize the mood of our people as perplexed , '' Randy Daniels , mayor of Athens , Texas , told CNN earlier this week . Athens , a town of about 12,000 people , has had three of its church set on fire . In Tyler , Texas , the Tyland Baptist Church was among those set ablaze . Pastor David Mahfood told CNN on Wednesday there was nothing left from the January 16 fire -- `` not a Bible , not a hymnal . We 've got some bricks . That 's it . '' At another destroyed church , Russell United Methodist Church in Wills Point , Texas , members are trying to salvage what they can from the ashes . A large brass cross that hung over the church 's choir loft was recently found , church member Kay Crosby told CNN . `` It was kind of twisted , but we 're going to have it restored , '' she said .
Sketches of three people released by ATF . No clear theme linking fires , which have struck churches of different denominations . Patrols , by both police and residents , have been stepped up near east Texas churches .