Police investigate cross-burnings outside Texas church

(Reuters) - Police in El Paso, Texas, are investigating two cross-burning incidents outside an African-American and Hispanic church two days apart, officials and the church's pastor said on Wednesday.

One of the crosses, about two-feet tall, was set ablaze outside the Smyrna Seventh Day Adventist Church in east El Paso on Saturday night, and the second on Monday night, pastor Allen Brewer said by telephone.

"I know of no reason why anyone would do this. We're trying to stay positive," Brewer said, adding that no threats had been made against him or the church.

"I understand there's a lot going on in the country these days," the pastor said, referring to last month's Charleston, South Carolina, church mass massacre and debate over the Confederate flag. "I don't know why anyone would do this."

(Reporting by Joseph Kolb in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Mohammad Zargham)