Police in Merritt have made an arrest in connection to fires set at several local churches last weekend.

Cst. Tracy Dunsmore says a local man was arrested yesterday afternoon.

“We were able to execute a warrant based on some information that we had, and from the warrant we gathered some more evidence and were able to make an arrest. It was a 37-year-old Merritt man arrested on four counts of arson,” Dunsmore says.

“He’s currently in custody and just awaiting to appear in court. He’ll be transported to Kamloops provincial court this afternoon where he’ll make an appearance and then further court dates will be set after that.”

The arrest follows arson cases at four churches in the Merritt area last weekend which included the oldest building in the Nicola Valley, the 143-year-old Murray United Church, being burned down.

Dunsmore says at this point police believe there was only one person involved in those cases.