SUMNER – A Rhode Island couple arrived at their seasonal home on Redding Road early Thursday morning to find it burned to the ground, possibly by vandals weaving a path of destruction in Oxford County this week.

“We have some evidence and some leads,” Oxford County Deputy William Nelson said Thursday night.

Pat and Ronald Cappucci of Bristol, R.I., arrived at their cabin about 9:30 a.m. to start their summer vacation and found it destroyed, Nelson said.

“Why are the leaves on the trees dead?” Pat said she asked her husband as they drove up the driveway.

“It’s because the cabin is burned to the ground,” she said he responded.

“Sixteen years of hard work and that little pile of rubble is all that’s left. They didn’t just burn my house, they stole my memories,” she said he told her.

The Cappuccis had been working over the years to prepare the house for their retirement in just a few years, Pat said.

No one saw the fire or even smelled smoke from the burning building, the deputy said.

The couple has insurance, but is unsure if it will pay to replace what was lost, he added.

The destruction of properties along Redding Road – it runs from Black Mountain Road in Sumner northwest through Woodstock and into Milton Township – is believed to have occurred Tuesday night, based on several factors and evidence collected, the investigator said. The Cappuccis home had been checked Sunday night and was OK, he said.

Bill Glass, who also lives on Redding Road in Sumner, had his home burglarized and the inside demolished, Nelson said.

“The Glass residence was destroyed. I’ve never seen a scene like that,” the deputy said.

He said he suspects it happened Tuesday night also.

There were also four camp break-ins on nearby on Dolloff Road in Woodstock, and a car burglarized and demolished on Redding Road. Evidence leads to them having occurred Tuesday night as well, Nelson said.

“It was basically the same MO,” he explained.

State and county police are investigating whether recent similar camp break-ins on Dolloff Road in Woodstock and Garland Pond in Byron are connected to the Redding Road destruction.

About 10 days ago, state police investigated a camp burglary on Dolloff Road in Woodstock where a handgun was taken, Nelson said. And Deputies Mike Halacy and George Cayer are looking into camp burglaries at Garland Pond, he added.

“We haven’t connected those ones like we have these,” he said of the earlier incidents, but “it’s the same exact type of stuff. They got progressively worse,” he said of the incidents stretching northwest to southeast over the past week and a half.

“These people are angry about something. We don’t know what it is, but they are doing some damage,” Nelson said.

Nelson asked people to be aware of suspicious vehicles and people, take descriptions and license plate numbers and notify the Sheriff’s Office at 207-743-9554 or toll free at 800-733-1421 and press 5 for the anonymous tip line.

Staff Editor Mary Delamater contributed to this article.