Bashaw RCMP officers attended a church fire on Feb. 13.
Just after noon, officers responded to St. Michael Hungarian Church on Range Road 224 near Bashaw.
According to an RCMP media release, “it appears that a fire started in the evening” of the previous day.
Once officers arrived on scene, all that remained of the structure was the foundation.
“Investigators are working with a fire investigator to determine a cause,” said RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff, an RCMP communications officer, via email.
According to Savinkoff, there has been eight incidents of church vandalism in the region over the last two months with damage ranging from minor to significant.
Savinkoff says some of the earlier vandalism was minor, having ketchup packets opened and spread throughout the interior of one of the buildings resulting, while more recent cases have escalated to significant damage including to building interiors.
The RCMP is currently investigating whether the St. Michael Church fire is possibly connected to the other incidents.
Anyone with information on this or any of the previous incidents are asked to contact their local RCMP detachment.
For those wishing to remain anonymous, contact Alberta Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at p3tips.com, or via the P3 Tips app available on Apple and Android mobile devices.
More to come