Fire tore through St. Paul's Catholic Church in the Gatineau neighbourhood of Aylmer on Thursday morning. (Rebecca Zandbergen/CBC)

Gatineau police said they found evidence of arson near a 120-year-old Roman Catholic church that was gutted by fire in Gatineau, Que., on Thursday morning.

The blaze began at St. Paul's Catholic Church in the Gatineau area of Aylmer at about 1:30 a.m., and was fuelled by the church's 100-year-old ornate woodwork.

Isabelle Poirier of the Gatineau police service said investigators have several reasons to believe the fire was deliberately set.

"Right now, the Gatineau police can confirm that it's a criminal fire," said Poirier.

The fire that tore through a church in Gatineau Thursday was fuelled by the building's 100-year-old ornate woodwork. (CBC)

She said police found a gas container near the church, evidence that the church had been broken into, and had received information from members of the public where were at the scene of the fire when it began.

Early Thursday morning, about 100 firefighters from both Gatineau and Ottawa watched the brass church bell plunge to the ground as the fire raged.

After the roof had caved in and the steeple had fallen, visitors continued to pay their respects to the historic building.

As firefighters worked through the morning, neighbours arrived to talk about their connections to the building, which survived two fires before it was last rebuilt in 1893.

Lucy Dallaire, who pulled up with her husband in a minivan, both in their pyjamas, said that she received her first communion at the church.

"I'm very upset. This is a big deal. Everybody saw the church. From even across the river, you saw the peak of the church, you knew that was the big thing in Aylmer," said Dallaire.