An early-morning arson fire destroyed a popular Golden Gate Park playground Sunday, an act that will cost a million dollars to repair.

NBC Bay Area reports that firefighters were called to the Koret Playground, which is located near Kezar Stadium and Hippie Hill, at 12:30 a.m. Sunday, where they found that "roughly 30 to 40 percent of the play area was damaged by the flames."

According to Hoodline, residents as far as Cole Valley and the Upper Haight say they smelled the plastic burned in the blaze, which officials say was arson.

"Playground equipment doesn't start on fire by itself," an official from San Francisco Fire Station 21 told Hoodline. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

The nearby carousel was not damaged in the incident, San Francisco Recreation and Parks officials confirm. Describing the fire as "terrible acts of vandalism," Rec and Parks writes on their website that the carousel will remain open, even as the playground has been closed by the incident.

According to NBC Bay Area, "roughly 30 to 40 percent of the play area was damaged by the flames." ABC 7 reports that "the structure isn't salvageable and will need to be replaced," a repair expected to cost around $1 million.

The Rec and Parks website says that the playground, originally called the Sharon Quarters for Children, opened in 1888 and "is thought to have been the nation’s first public playground." It underwent a $3.8 million renovation and reopened in 2007 as the Koret Children’s Quarter.

Rec and Parks spokesperson Sarah Madland tells KTVU that "on an annual basis, we usually see things like broken glass, graffiti, but this is a pretty rare occurrence." In fact, officials say this is the worst occurrence of vandalism at an SF park since 2005, when the West Sunset Playground was the site of an arson attack that August.

No suspect information has been released in the case, but KTVU reports that there are security cameras in the area and that "there will be extra patrols in light of what happened." Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call 415-920-2933.

This arson is "very significant," Rec and Parks Director of Operation Dennis Kern told NBC. "Childrens' playgrounds are where kids and families bring their kids to play, to learn, to recreate."

"To have somebody completely torch one of our premier playgrounds, I think, is an affront to the children and to the families of San Francisco."