A spokeswoman for the FBI said the agency is probing the Animal Liberation Front's claim that it used a garden hose to flood the home of University of California-Los Angeles Professor Edythe London on Oct. 20, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The group claimed responsibility for the flood, saying it was an attempt to halt London's animal experiments involving nicotine addiction.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told the Times the bureau and local police were treating the case as domestic terrorism and are investigating possible links between the incident and a June case that involved an incendiary device that was lighted next to a car owned by a UCLA eye disease researcher. The device didn't explode.

The Animal Liberation Front said in a news release Monday that it had initially considered setting a fire in London's home but didn't want to risk harming animals "human and non-human."