There are scorch marks on the altar and pages of the bible were burned at St. John the Evangelist church in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, which was vandalized and a fire was set there on Friday, police announced as they asked for information to help their investigation.
Police believe at least one person went inside St. John the Evangelist church on Central Street in the middle of the day, lit a candle at the entrance and tossed the matches aside.
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An employee told police everything seemed fine when they were working here at the food pantry around 2 p.m. The pastor told EMTS that he started smelling smoke around 3:30, so authorities believe it happened sometime between then. Police officers and firefighters were on scene by 3:40.
They quickly realized the fire had already been put out with an extinguisher based on some yellow powder at the front of the church.
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When they went further inside, investigators noticed a water jug was missing from a dispenser in the priest’s preparation room, which leads them to believe the suspects tried to put the fire out with water.
When that didn’t work, they used the extinguisher, leaving behind that yellow powder. Most of the damage is near the altar – the altar cloth is scorched and pages of the bible burned.
Police also found food from the pantry by the back door. The fire marshal’s explosion investigation unit is helping police with the investigation.
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The fire retardant powder is hard to get off, so police are asking anyone to keep an eye out for anyone with yellow powder on their shoes or clothes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the East Bridgewater Police Department at 508-378-7223.
An investigation remains ongoing.
