Days after vigilante threats to firebomb the premises, the Queensland home where a teenager was allegedly detained against her will and abused was completely destroyed.
The Sunshine Coast house may have been intentionally set on fire in the wee hours of Wednesday, according to DailyMail.
The building had been vandalized days prior to the fire and is the scene of an alleged attack and torture by three girls, ages 12, 13, and 14.
The child was allegedly lured to the property before a prolonged attack on March 11 that included beatings, knife slashes, and verbal abuse.
The three were later detained, but video of the incident purportedly showed the girls bragging about the assault, stirring off a storm of public outrage and a string of vandalism incidents at the house.
Tensions that had been building on Wednesday erupted when the house caught fire at about 1.30 am. No one was present when the house caught fire, and there were no injuries recorded.
Detectives, who denounced the fire and pleaded for calm, have declared a crime scene and are asking witnesses or anybody with information to contact them.
“We’ll look into those issues carefully. Det Sr Sgt Craig Mansfield told reporters on Wednesday, “We just don’t want this type of behavior to continue.
“We do not in any way, shape, or form condone this behavior, and those who perpetrate such actions will be brought to justice if we are able to identify them.”
Also, police have opened an investigation into “racially motivated” literature that was disseminated in the area before the fire.
Early indications suggest that the flyer itself was created by individuals with no connection to the Sunshine Coast or who do not reside there, according to Supt. Craig Hawkins.
In addition to being distributed here, it was also distributed in another area in southeast Queensland.
Supt. Hawkins claimed that the information had been disseminated by “gutless” people in an effort to stir up radical behavior.
“In Queensland, everyone has the right to feel safe, to not be a victim, and to coexist peacefully with their environment.
“The cultural background of the people who did live in this house is totally unimportant.
“A problem has arisen. Officers have looked into that situation. We take acts of racial discrimination or racially motivated events extremely seriously, thus these individuals are now in court to receive justice.
Police are asking anyone who may have seen the incident or who has a dashcam or CCTV footage from the area to get in touch with them.