Man accused of setting grass fire downtown

An unusual grass fire caught a police officer’s attention early Thursday in downtown Lawrence.

About 1:40 a.m., an officer spotted someone setting fire to a pampas grass plant in front of the Community Building at 11th and Vermont streets.

The officer stopped the man, identified as 24-year-old James D. Morgan, of Lawrence, arrested him and found 36 matchbooks in his pocket, said Sgt. Dan Ward, a police spokesman. The plant, valued at $15, was destroyed.

Morgan was booked into the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of arson.