The Waikato District Mayor says her community is "absolutely" gutted after a suspicious fire severely damaged Huntly's historic railway station building.
The 84-year-old structure was moved from its original site in 2011 to allow for the redevelopment of the station platforms and surrounding areas.
But on Wednesday night the building was in the process of being moved back to the station site when the fire broke out.
Waikato District Mayor Jacqui Church told AM co-host Laura Tupou the fire is "absolutely gutting".
"Actually, when I arrived in the morning having heard, there were other people there from the museum and [the] public who were crying."
Church said the entire Huntly community were eager to have the building moved and restored back to where it belonged.
"The idea of moving it back to its original place and then restoring it back, to celebrate what's important to Rahui Pokeka, Huntly," Church said.
Tragically, Church said many of Huntly locals were watching the building being moved as the fire broke out.
Now council officials are working to see if the charred historic building can be restored.
"We want to make this happen if we can at all possible, yeah there's a lot of damage and we won't know until that investigation is done, and that we can make it safe and the intention is to restore it if we possibly can."
Police are investigating the suspicious fire.
Watch the full video above for more.
