Two masked militants appeared on social media in a video setting fire to a Christmas tree the night before Christians in Syria were preparing to celebrate Christmas.
Footage of the aftermath shows a religious figure from the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group assuring a crowd gathered in Suqaylabiya that the tree would be repaired by morning.
The man then held up a cross in solidarity, something Islamist conservatives would not do.
On Tuesday, even more protesters took to the streets against the arson.
Some in the Qas neighborhood of Damascus chanted against foreign fighters in Syria.
“Syria is free, non-Syrians must leave,” they said, referring to foreign fighters who HTS said were behind the attack.
In the Bab Touma neighborhood of Damascus, demonstrators carried a cross and Syrian flags, chanting “we sacrifice our souls for our cross.”
“If we are not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country as before, we no longer belong here,” a protester named Georges told AFP.
Syria is home to many ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shiites, and Sunni Arabs, the latter of whom constitute the majority of the Muslim population.
Just over two weeks ago, the presidency of Bashar al-Assad passed to rebel forces, ending more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family.
How HTS will rule Syria remains to be seen.
HTS began as a jihadist group – advocating violence to achieve its goal of a state governed by Islamic law (Sharia), but in recent years has adopted a more pragmatic and less uncompromising approach.
As the militants marched into Damascus earlier this month, its leaders spoke of creating a Syria for all Syrians.
The representatives also said that the rights and freedoms of religious and national minorities will be protected.
The UN, US, EU and UK still recognize HTS as a terrorist organisation, although there are signs that a diplomatic shift could be taking place.
on friday The US dropped the $10m (£7.9m) reward. on the head of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, after meetings between senior diplomats and representatives of the group.
The US continues its military presence in Syria. On Friday, it said it had carried out an airstrike in the northern city of Deir ez-Zor, killing two members of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
The presence of foreign fighters, Islamic extremists or even regime supporters interested in creating danger and attacking minorities to destabilize the country is a big challenge that the new Islamic leadership will face.
