The fire at the church in Třinec-Guty has led the police to charge three men

Třinec - The police have charged three men with starting the fire on Wednesday that destroyed the rare wooden church in Třinec-Guty in the Frýdek-Místek region. One of the accused is a minor, all three are of Czech nationality. For the crime of endangerment, they face up to 15 years in prison. Moravian-Silesian police chief Tomáš Kužel said this to reporters today. The supervising prosecutor Josef Šuhaj told ČTK that he had proposed custody for two of the accused, while for the third, he found insufficient grounds for custody.

Kužel stated that it was an intentional crime. "This is a very recent matter, and the police are currently working on the motive behind the entire affair," he noted. "I cannot disclose more at this time because the criminal police and investigation service, along with the supervising prosecutor, are actively working on the case," said Kužel.

The prosecutor stated that he had found two reasons to impose custody for one of the accused. "Firstly, there is concern about possible tampering with the investigation considering the severity of the sentence he faces. The potential punishment he could receive might lead him to evade the criminal proceedings. Another reason for custody is a precautionary measure, that he may continue similar criminal activities," Šuhaj said. According to him, for the second accused, it is only a precautionary custody.

The third accused was released from detention. "Considering his low level of involvement in the alleged crime, we do not believe that custody proceedings would be meaningful or justified," Šuhaj stated. He added that no further information could be provided as the case is in its early stages and the motivations of the accused, as well as other circumstances, are still being investigated.

The wooden church of the Body of Christ in Guty dated back to the 16th century. It was a valuable monument with much original furnishings and paintings from the first half of the 16th century. Between 2012 and 2014, it was reconstructed at a cost of 4.3 million crowns. According to preliminary estimates, the material damages could amount to tens of millions of crowns, but the historical loss is incalculable.

Shortly after the fire, discussions about the restoration of the church began. Most of the costs should be covered by insurance, and the Ministry of Culture and the municipality are prepared to share additional costs. A public fundraising campaign is also being planned, and there will be contributions from the owner of the monument, namely the local parish.

The fire also destroyed the wooden church of St. Catherine from the 16th century in Ostrava-Hrabová 15 years ago. It was caused by an electrical fault. An exact copy was then built on its site.