Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral was undergoing a $12 million renovation when it went up in flames Monday.
The monument’s spire — now just a pile of ashes — and its edifice were being restored to fix damage from pollution and old age, according to AFP.
Officials said Monday the fire may have been linked to the renovation.
On Thursday, 16 bronze statues of the 12 apostles and the four evangelists were lifted off the spire via a crane to be taken away for cleaning, the wire service reported.
The statues were installed during a restoration of the cathedral in the 1860s.
The French government was footing the bill for the current spruce up, but the Archbishop of Paris had been on a mission to raise more than $113 million to fund full repairs of the 850-year-old cathedral.
