WASHINGTON - A court in the southern US state of Tennessee sentenced a man to more than 14 years in prison for burning down a local mosque, the US Justice Department said Monday.

Michael Corey Golden, 24, was sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to having vandalized and burned down the mosque in February 2008.

Golden admitted to using Molotov cocktail explosives to destroy the mosque, which he ignited while a co-defendant painted swastikas and the phrase "White Power" on the walls of the building in the town of Columbia.

"The right to worship without fear of this kind of violent interference is among our most fundamental civil rights," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights.

"We will aggressively prosecute anyone who seeks to intimidate or injure any congregation because of what they believe, how they worship or who they are."

Two co-defendants in the case, Jonathan Edward Stone and Eric Ian Baker, previously pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced in December, the Justice Department said.