Catholic churchgoers in Glenreagh in the Northern Rivers have been left shattered after the historic St Paul's Catholic Church went up in flames overnight.
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Emergency services responded to reports of the blaze at about 5am on Sunday and found the 87-year-old building well alight.
The building was mostly destroyed as a result, leaving locals to find only its charred remains on the site where they would normally attend Sunday mass.
"The place was burning ferociously. We did try and put it out but it was too far gone by the time we got there. We couldn't achieve anything," said Darly Watt, Captain of the Glenreagh Fire Brigade.
"The community is very shocked by all this. A lot of locals were christened and married there and attended the church. It's a very small, tight-knit town of about 400 to 500 people, so the town is almost heartbroken at present.
"It's going to take a while to sink in."
Locals took to social media to talk of the loss, with many reminiscing of time spent at what Mr Watt calls "one of the few iconic landmarks we had in town".
"History for the community has been lost," wrote Desley Cliffe on Facebook. "Many, many both happy and sad occassions held here. Now those left can verbally pass on history to be recorded while they can [sic]."
"[It's a] terrible loss. We have so many memories of our Sunday masses there," wrote another Facebook user, Vincent Carroll.
Police are treating the incident as suspicious, and have established a crime scene which is being examined by forensic specialists.
Glenreagh's St Paul's Catholic Church was originally opened in May, 1931 by Irving and Shepherd of Nana Glen.
It is expected that what remains of the structure will have to be pulled down due to the extensive damage.
