At around 4:30 am a fire broke out in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the northern town of Saint-Omer.
Thanks to the efforts of 90 firefighters the fire had been contained by Monday morning, but the church steeple collapsed, a representative of the prefecture told AFP.
À Saint-Omer, dans le Pas-de-Calais, l'église de l'Immaculée conception s'embrase et le clocher tombe.
— Jon De Lorraine (@jon_delorraine) September 2, 2024
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No one was injured, but around 50 residents living nearby were evacuated as a precaution, officials said.
"My thoughts are with the Catholics and the people of Saint-Omer," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X, formerly Twitter.
"An investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the fire," he added.
The public prosecutor's office said that a suspect had been taken into custody on Monday evening.
The man, who was born in 1985, has been known to authorities "for similar acts" in the past, Saint-Omer public prosecutor Mehdi Benbouzid told AFP on Tuesday.
The man, who had been living in a hostel before the incident, was being interviewed on Tuesday morning.
The investigation pointed to "traces of forced entry" into the church, where a stained-glass window had been broken, said Benbouzid.
The public prosecutor was considering a criminal charge of "destruction of property by dangerous means" because of the religious nature of the property.
The church, which features neo-Gothic furnishings, was unveiled in 1859.
It was restored and reopened in 2018.
In July, a fire broke out in the spire of the mediaeval cathedral in the northern French city of Rouen during renovation work. No major damage was reported.
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