Two children blamed for burning down 14th century Slovak castle

According to Slovak police, a historic 14th castle that was gutted by a fire on Saturday was sparked by two children experimenting with their first cigarette.

According to Reuters, police were sent to investigate two boys, 11 and 12 years old, for suspicion that they had lit dry grass on fire near the castle while using matches to light a cigarette.

"A unit sent to the site found that two local boys aged 11 and 12 were trying to light up a cigarette and because of careless use of safety matches, they set grass at the castle hill on fire," Reuters quoted Jana Mesarova, police spokeswoman for the eastern Slovak region of Kosice.

The embers from the matches allegedly floated up and set the wooden roof of the castle ablaze.

Read more on GlobalPost: Fire destroys famous Krásna Hôrka castle in Slovakia (VIDEO)

More than 80 firefighters reached the scene to put out the inferno, which burned the roof and interior of the castle in just minutes, said the Daily Mail.

Though damage was extensive, the Slovak National Museum wrote on its Facebook page that 90 per cent of the historical collections were saved by caretakers.

Under Slovak law, children under the age of 15 cannot be prosecuted for crimes.

On Sunday evening, another small fire broke out again on the castle grounds and high winds fanned smouldering embers, according to the Slovak Spectator.

The fire was extinguished by local firefighters without incident.