I was one of the last people to see the inside of Brighton's West Pier.

The day I married, on November 23, 2002, my husband and I went to the beach and had the crazy idea of breaking in to the West Pier as soon as we realised there was enough space to squeeze through.

The first section had many holes and looked more fragile but the bridge seemed solid enough so we went to the other side and explored the end of the pier.

Most of it looked quite solid and the only apparent danger was from slipping on the bird droppings. We had the chance of seeing a unique view of Brighton.

Unfortunately, we left our cameras behind and have been regretting it since.

Yesterday, as I heard of the pier being on fire, I spent time remembering what it was like and trying to think how it could have happened.

I come from a part of Spain where forest fires are regrettably frequent and am familiar with all the common causes for them.

A storm? We know it wasn't that. Something that concentrated the sunbeams, such as a pan? I didn't see anything like it and I think, if there had been, it would not have stayed bright and reflective for long - the birds would have taken care of that.

I believe somebody had to go there to start the fire. It might have been just somebody smoking but it is not that easy to start a fire with a match, as anybody who has started a camp fire will know.

It could have been somebody who started a cooking fire with the idea of having a meal in an exotic setting but, somehow, I find it hard to believe. Too inaccessible, too smelly and, anyway, if such a person appreciates the location, they would be careful to avoid destroying it.

I cannot help but think the fire was caused in a deliberate attempt to destroy the West Pier. And I find that hard to forgive.

Unlike many people, my husband and I did not like the idea of the West Pier being restored. We liked it as a ghostly monument to an abandoned era and found it fitting that birds were its only inhabitants.

Obviously, the person or persons who set the West Pier on fire did not want it restored either.

It must have been someone blind to its historical, ecological and aesthetic dimensions, who did not even see it as a possible space for alternative activities.

For me, that blindness, in itself, is a crime and an insult to all that my husband and I were celebrating on the day of our marriage.

-Doly Garcia, lu_si_na@yahoo.com