Chino Valley Fire District investigators said a fire that scorched the Virgin Mary statue at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Chino has been deemed suspicious.

Chino Police Department officers went to the church at 12686 Central Ave. on the morning of August 30, finding the lower right side of the statue with burn damage.

“The investigation revealed that an unknown subject attempted to set one of the statues on fire,” said police spokeswoman Monica Gutierrez.

She added she checked the police department’s crime log from the past several months and did not find any other reports of vandalism at the church.

School officials, who declined to answer questions about the incident, did say that the statue has been there since the early 1970s.

Full story at Champion News.