Unknown arsonists lit all candles in the Catholic St. Johann Church in Bad Dürrheim on June 5th before setting fire to a flowerpot placed on the 300-year-old wooden high altar with several burning candles. A church visitor noticed the burning candles and the smell of something burning. As she looked for the source, she found that the flowerpot was almost completely burned and the fire had spread to the wooden altar tabletop. Just in time, she extinguished the fire with holy water and reported the incident. A book for pryer requests was also burned a little bit on one side. The immense damage that was done to the altar could not be estimated yet.
The church personnel found themselves forced to close the church for visitors apart from church services.
Police in Villingen are investigating and are looking for witnesses: Tel.: 07721 601-0