A fire damaged Victory Church off of Taylor Lane in Lehigh Acres on Thursday morning.
Volunteers vacuumed chairs and rugs that were drenched from firefighters fighting the blaze.
State investigators are looking into a fire that was started inside a church in Lehigh Acres
Pastor Larry Gregory says firefighters contained the fire to the sanctuary.
“For something like this to happen, it’s kind of sad,”.
What makes it worse for pastor Gregory is what he says Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue told him about the fire.
“The fire officials told us that there was an arson,” says Pastor Gregory. “Someone set the fire.”
Since this was a structure fire in a place of worship, the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations is taking the lead on this case.
He shared that he and his congregation would pray for the arsonist. He showed compassion despite what had been done to his church.
“I was in Nigeria, and churches were getting burnt down to the ground; that’s what’s happening,” says Pastor Gregory. “And it’s filtered into America.”