A close-up of the Fire and Emergency NZ logo. Photo: Marika Khabazi / RNZ
Police are treating a fire at a marae in central Hamilton on the weekend as suspicious.
The meeting house at Hui Te Rangiora Marae was completely gutted by the fire on Sunday morning.
The carvings on the outside suffered some smoke damage, but were relatively intact.
Deputy chair of the marae committee Jack Keogh said the local community was in shock.
He said while they could not enter the meeting house at present, many local whānau had gathered outside to grieve.
Local media reported the blaze took more than three hours to extinguish. The cause remained unknown.
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