A man

An arsonist arrested after twice setting fire to a 7ft wooden cross in Faversham has been let off with a caution.

The 54-year-old man, who lives in the town, was held by police after the Christian cross went up in flames on Friday night.

He admitted pouring lighter fluid on the cross before torching it, but escaped with a caution after he was quizzed by police.

The cross had only been erected in Market Place hours before as part of an annual open air service to mark Good Friday.

Crews were first called into action at 6.50pm after the cross - believed to be more than 30 years old – was set on fire.

The flames were easily put out, but at 8.30pm firefighters returned to the same spot for a second blaze.

This time police were on the scene and confirmed CCTV cameras had captured the man setting fire to the cross. The same cameras are thought to have missed the first attack.

A firefighter, who wouldn’t give his name, said: “It seemed funny that we’d only been there about one-and-a-half hours before.

“If we’re called back to a fire within 24 hours we have to check whether it has been re-ignited. In this case the police confirmed it had been set on fire again.

“It’s an old wooden cross so the wood is quite seasoned. There’s a bit of string tied round it as well to make it look authentic, so it would have gone up quite easily.

“It was easy to put out though. It was just a case of squirting some water on it.”

After the second blaze the cross was taken away by police as evidence.

The Reverend Geoff Cook, of Faversham Baptist Church, says the fires won’t affect next year’s Good Friday service.

He said: “All the churches will get together there again next year because Good Friday is one of the most important days in the Christian calendar.

“It’s not the sort of thing we want to happen, but it’s just one of those things.

“The man who did it obviously had his reasons and we can’t really pass judgement on what his motive may have been.

“Essentially the cross is just a few bits of wood and isn’t anything special, but it’s a symbolic representation of Good Friday.”