A man is recovering in hospital with significant facial burns after being set alight during a home invasion in Perth's east.
Police say three armed men broke into the Petilia Court home in High Wycombe at about 9:40pm on Friday and stole four guns.
Detective Sergeant Tania Mackenzie said police believe the men targeted the house because they knew there was a gun safe inside.
"To get the firearms, one of the males has been doused with what we believe to be methylated spirits... and at the end, has been set alight," she said.
She said the offenders poured the spirits over the 52-year-old victim's face to get him to open the safe, which he did, but then one of the offenders set him on fire anyway.
Attack was 'horrific' and 'brazen'
Detective Sergeant Mackenzie described the incident as "horrific".
"To think that someone is prepared to use an accelerant to get what they came for in the first place just shows the brazenness of those offenders.
"It appears that they have set the person alight once they've actually already had the firearms."
The man is in stable condition in Fiona Stanely Hospital's burns unit.
"[He is] still very shaken, and at a point wondering why he's been targeted, how he's been targeted," Detective Mackenzie said.
Police said he was a registered gun owner.
Another person who was at the home was also threatened.
The stolen guns have been described as target pistols, used in a club environment, and police believe their presence at the home would not have been widely known.
The three offenders have been described as Caucasian males, wearing dark clothing, who left the scene in a dark coloured vehicle.
Police say they stole other items along with the pistols.
Police were canvassing the area for CCTV, and have appealed to members of the public who saw anything suspicious to contact them.
