Arson investigators say a 24-year-old Denver man accused of planting firebombs under several SUV'S in March may have had ties to ecoterror groups.

KCNC TV said arson investigators, who declined to be identified, said they want to search Grant Barnes' computer for anything that could link him to the Earth Liberation Front.

Police and fire investigators initially had played down any links to ELF or other ecoterror groups, and said that in one case it appeared ELF had been written on a vehicle after the bomb exploded. Fire spokesman Lieutenant Phil Champagne said Sunday that there is no known link between Barnes and terror groups, though he may have been inspired by them.

Philip Cherner, the lawyer representing Barnes, declined comment. His client is in jail on felony explosives and arson charges as well as an identity theft charge and drug possession charge.

A group of ELF members called the Family is accused of 20 arson attacks around the West that did $40 million dollars in damage, including $12 million dollars on Vail Mountain in 1998.

KCNC said explosives expert Mark Singer said the firebombs used in Denver appeared to have made using instructions on an ELF Web site.

The station said a search warrant affidavit contained photos of suspicious devices found inside Barnes' car.

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