An early morning fire on Sunday destroyed the Meadow Lake arena.

Crews were called just before 2 a.m to try and save the building which was in flames when they arrived.

The arena has been a part of the community, three hours northwest of Saskatoon, for 45 years.

The curling rink which is adjacent to the arena was not damaged, but an ice plant shared between the two facilities suffered damage.

In a news release issued Sunday evening, RCMP say the fire “appeared to have been set” in a nearby storage shed.

The release says an older model grey truck was seen leaving the area just before emergency responders arrived at the arena and that a concession stand that shares the parking lot with the arena had been broken into as well.