Members of St. Mary’s United Methodist Church in Centre, Alabama met in the parking lot yesterday morning for their morning service after a fire that appears to be the work of an arsonist, damaged the downtown building.

According to Centre, Alabama Fire Chief Jeremy Lee, his department responded to a church fire at St. Mary’s Methodist Church on Saturday.

Units arrived at the location at 620 West Main Street in Centre to find a fire on one of the pews and a flag which had been burned on a flag stand.  The pew was immediately removed from the building with the active timbers being extinguished; the structure suffered minor smoke damage throughout.

A detailed search of the facility was carried out and no other signs of fire were found.

The Alabama State Fire Marshal is performing an investigation into the matter.

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