LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A man who allegedly set fire to five Teslas and sprayed them with bullets from a semi-automatic rifle appeared in a US court Thursday to face federal arson charges, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said.

Paul Hyon Kim, 36, is suspected of being behind the assault on a Tesla business in Las Vegas, among a wave of attacks targeting Elon Musk’s electric car brand as anger rises over government funding cuts he is overseeing.

The DoJ said in a statement that emergency services were called to the Tesla repair center on 18 March after reports of gunshots.

“During the investigation, it was determined that Molotov cocktails and a .30 caliber AR-style firearm were used to damage and destroy five Tesla vehicles, and graffiti was sprayed to write ‘Resist’ on the front of the building,” the statement said.

Kim was arrested a week later. He has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm and one count of arson.

He faces up to 20 years in prison on the arson charge alone.

“The Department of Justice has been clear: anyone who participates in the wave of domestic terrorism targeting Tesla properties will suffer severe legal consequences,” US attorney general Pamela Bondi said.

“We will continue to find, arrest, and prosecute these attackers until the lesson is learned.”

Musk, the South African-born billionaire chief of Tesla and SpaceX, is leading Donald Trump’s ruthless cost-cutting drive at the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

Several Tesla dealerships and a number of cars around the country have been vandalized in recent weeks and the company’s stock price has plummeted over the past month.