Youths Nabbed For Arson Attack on Church

Less than two days after a fire gutted one of the two 72-meter-high spires of Göttingen's historic 13th century St. John's Church, German police have taken two teenagers into custody and charged them with arson. The youths apparently had gathered combustible materials near the church, climbed onto some scaffolding on the tower late Saturday night and then started the blaze. When the fire department arrived, much of the spire was in flames and it was difficult to extinguish the fire since the ladders only reached a height of 30 meters. Representatives of the church said much of the building suffered water damage. St. John's two spires had just undergone four years of extensive renovation at a cost of some € 7million ($9.15 million).