A 20-year-old gay man was sprayed with an aerosol can and lit on fire in a horrific anti-gay attack in Stockton, England early Wednesday morning.

According to police, the victim was confronted by a group of four men who interrogated him about his sexual orientation as he walked past the grounds of Holy Trinity Church around 3am.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said the victim "ignored them and continued onto Parliament Street," where "one of the men then approached him from behind and sprayed an aerosol can at the victim's legs which he then set alight, causing burns to the victim's calves."

The victim's legs were so seriously burned that they required skin grafts, which he received at the North Tees University Hospital.

"Officers are treating this as a homophobic hate crime," the spokeswoman added, "and are asking anyone with information to come forward and call police on 101."

Police are still searching for the assailants, who retreated toward Yarm Lane following the attack.

The man who lit the aerosol is described as "white, in his early 20s, of medium build and with short blonde hair." He was shirtless and wearing only joggers.

In May, a gay man nearly lost his eyesight when he and his boyfriend were jumped by a gang of homophobes and brutally beaten in Brighton.

Two weeks later, Brighton police confirmed another gay man had his jaw broken in a brutal homophobic assault outside a seaside bar on Madeira Drive.