St. Anne’s Church fire that destroyed rare frescoes now being investigated as possible arson

The fire that destroyed St. Anne’s Church in Toronto, a national historic site beloved for its murals painted by members of the Group of Seven, is now being treated as a suspected arson, police and church officials say.

The four-alarm fire broke out in June, 2024, gutting the century-old church and destroying its artworks, including elaborate frescoes considered among the few religious works by the collective famed for their Canadian landscape paintings.