In central Kaunas, the city’s key Christmas tree has been set ablaze. The police has managed to track down the suspected hooligan and firefighters have quickly put out the fire, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT reports.
«This night, the main decoration of Kaunas, the Christmas tree in Rotušės Square, was burning with open fire,» the city’s authorities announced on the official Facebook page. «Luckily, no people were hurt. Firefighters were maximally efficient. We express our gratitude to them.»
The city’s fire fighters received the alert about the tree on fire at 01:43 on Saturday, December 4. The open fire was extinguished within a few of minutes.
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According to the police, CCTV cameras captured a car approaching the tree at 01:40. The driver got out of the car, poured flammable liquid onto the tree, set it on fire and drove away.
The police stopped the car 17 minutes later. A 21-year-old officer was injured while detaining the suspect, but did not need hospitalisation, according to the police.
The suspect is a 39-year-old man who was sober during the arrest, police spokesman Ramūnas Matonis told LRT RADIO. The man has no prior convictions and now faces a fine or up to five years of jailtime.
The article originally appeared on LRT English: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1556844/kaunas-christmas-tree-set-on-fire-suspected-arsonist-detained
City Christmas tree set ablaze in Lithuania; one man detained
