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A fire has devastated one of South Korea’s most celebrated national treasures, the ancient wooden structure that capped a centuries-old gate through the old fortifications of the city of Seoul.

The fire broke out on Saturday night at the 610-year-old Namdaemun gate, tearing through the timbers above the stone gate. The structure collapsed even as some 360 fire fighters were attempting to control the blaze. Officials suspect the cause of the fire was arson.

“People’s hearts will ache,” said South Korea’s President-elect Lee Myung Bak, speaking at the site of the ruined landmark. A spokesman for the outgoing President Roh Moo Hyun echoed his lament for the ruined monument.

A South Korean news agency reported that fire fighters had found two disposable lighters at the spot where they believe the fire broke out.

Lee Sang Joon, an official at the National Emergency Management Agency, said arson was suspected. However, police said it was too early to say for certain what had caused the blaze as they launched a joint inspection of the site.

“We should investigate by considering all possibilities,” said Kim Young Soo, head of the central Seoul police station handling the case.

Police analysed the tapes from four closed-circuit television cameras installed near the site but none of them showed any suspects, said Kim.

Investigator Kim Kyong-hwan said great care would be taken to ensure the site is not damaged further so the monument can be fully restored.

The two-tiered wooden structure is close to the hearts of many South Koreans and its importance as a national icon is drummed into new generations of schoolchildren.

It had once been off-limits to the public, after the Japanese colonial authorities built an electric tramway near the gate in 1907, three years before assuming total control of the Korean peninsula.

Renovated in the 1960s, it was declared the country’s top national treasure. The government built a plaza around the gate, officially known as Sungnyemun, in 2005, and opened it to the public the following year for the first time in nearly a century.

The stone base of the structure remains intact, South Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration said it would take at least three years and some 20 billion won (£10.8 million) to fully restore the monument.

“There is no problem in restoring the gate,” Kim Tae Young, an administration official said, adding that detailed measurements of the structure had been taken in 2006.

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