Police are investigating what they believed was a targeted arson attack at an ice cream parlour in Melbourne’s south-west this morning.

Emergency crews were called to Capriccio ice creamery in Williamstown at 3.45am to find the shop well alight.

The fire completely burnt out the ice cream parlour and also damaged the connecting apartment complex above the shop.

A dozen firefighters worked through the early hours of this morning to bring the blaze under control, and remained on the scene following the blaze due to the age of the building.

“Being a very old structure, the fire has moved into the voids and cavities within the structure,” Spokesperson for Fire and Rescue Victoria, Henri Laursen said.

Police said earlier that the fire is being treated as suspicious, and have confirmed this afternoon that they are treating it as a targeted attack.

The owner of the store, who did not want to be identified, said the ice cream parlour had been a family-run business for more than 20 years, and that he had no idea who would want to target them.