Assyrian church in Sweden under guard after series of suspected arson attacks
Following several suspicious fires, members of the Syrian Orthodox St Maria's church in Norrköping, Sweden, say they will begin patrolling the area around the church at night to avoid further potential attacks.
The move comes after the church received a fire alarm on Sunday night as a fire had broken out in the assembly room of the church, the second suspicious fire in a month according to Isa Gergin, spokesman and caretaker for the Syrian Orthodox Church, SVT reports.
“On the third of December, it was the same. Someone had poured gasoline on the outside and lit it. But the emergency services were quickly in place,” Gergin said.
Commenting on Sunday’s fire, Gergin said: “We have not gone through all the damage yet, but the building has survived and internally it is only smoke damaged.”
The two fires are not the first time the building has been victim to a suspected arson attack. in August 2018, police investigated another incident but according to Gergin, the church officials had not heard anything back from the police.
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