Fire officials are investigating a fire as ‘suspicious’ after the church was burglarized and vandalized.

According to David Vincent, Acting Fire Chief with the Savannah Rural Fire Department crews were called out to a fire around 6:45 a.m. at St. John’s Church in Amazonia.

“The first fire truck reported heavy smoke coming from the building,” Vincent said. “Made entry into the east side, found the fire in the basement and quickly extinguished it.”

He said there was significant fire damage to the basement and the sanctuary and upstairs received smoke damage.

“The main fire was out within 10 minutes,” Vincent said. “We’ve been on scene this long just making sure it’s completely out and doing some cleanup.”

However, Vincent said there were signs that the fire was not an accident so the Andrew County Sheriff’s Department and the State Fire Marshall’s Office were called in to investigate.

The church’s pastor told the St. Joseph Post the church was burglarized before the fire.  He said electronic equipment was taken and that the fire may have been an attempt to cover up the evidence.  He also said it looked as if the burglars tried to paint 666 on the side of the church.