Nova Scotia Mounties are investigating a brazen and multi-layered crime scene in North Alton.

Thieves broke into a business and stole a variety of items. It appears they also set fire to the building before they left, causing extensive damage to everything left behind.

“Everything in that shop is going to be garbage now,” said James Martell of his plumbing and heating business.

He was woken up by a phone call early Monday morning to tell him that his shop was burning.

When he arrived, he says fire investigators and police told him it was a crime scene.

“We were robbed first,” Martell said. “They set two fires inside the building. Then, on way out, they cut the gas lines underneath the van.”

The van then caught on fire and burned the outside of the building with flames reaching the rooftop.

“Because of the nature of our business and its plastic pipe, the smoke damage inside coated everything in black smoke,” Martell said.

Inside, Martell says everything was destroyed, and thieves made off with a big haul.

“They took generators, jackhammers, power snakes, drills,” Martell said. “They also took random things like used heat pumps.”

On Tuesday, down the road in South Alton, police were investigating a break and enter that took place in Wolfville on April 11. They arrested two males, aged 52 and 72, when they made an interesting discovery, said Nova Scotia RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Lisa Croteau.

“They noticed items that had been reported stolen from a business in North Alton that had been reported to be on fire on April 22,” said Croteau.

Some of those items have been returned to Martell, but he expects to take a big hit on the fire insurance for the building

“I cannot imagine a world where we'll break even,” Martell said. “We're going to lose money without any question.”

The Mounties say both men each face one charge of break-and-enter and one charge of possession of stolen property.

“It is a suspicious fire at this time, but we're still investigating,” Croteau said.

Meanwhile, Martell says he will try and rebuild his small, but thriving, business.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Paul Hollingsworth.