On 27 October, someone set fire to a dozen prayer books on the altar of the church of Chamalières-sur-Loire, causing a huge smoke cloud in the building.
Witnesses quickly raised the alarm and prevented the worst. There is no doubt that this was a deliberate act of arson. "There is no need to say that this fire could have had catastrophic consequences. The facts are therefore very serious," the town hall said in a statement.
This disaster comes at a time when the municipality has recently recorded other acts of vandalism, with "a series of damages to the medieval garden and the burning of bins in public toilets".