Boy Scouts of Troop 835 built them for an Eagle Scout project. And the rental proceeds helped fund the Yacht Club of Cape St. Claire Youth Sailing Program, said Shelley Greenhouse of the yacht club.

The two racks, and a third smaller rack, were found ablaze at 3:30 a.m. at a waterfront picnic area off Little Magothy View. The flames shot about 30 feet high, scorching the trunks of nearby trees and charring bordering shrubbery, said Nancy Coffman, whose home is adjacent the small beach.

County firefighters had the fire under control within minutes, but the racks and more than two dozen canoes and kayaks were destroyed.

"The fire was so intense they (the boats) were all consumed by the time the crew arrived," said Battalion Chief

Matthew Tobia, a county Fire Department spokesman.

A nearby port-a-potty also was touched by the flames, causing the door to melt and fold over.

Fire investigators determined the blaze was arson. Damage is estimated to be at least $12,000.

Dava Unglesbee said she was sickened to hear that someone set fire to the kayak racks.

Her 17-year-old son, Matthew, an Eagle Scout with Troop 835, had organized, supervised and helped build the newest rack, unveiled to the community a year ago. Two years prior, Dylan Lewald, 18, organized the construction of the original kayak rack on the waterfront, also as an Eagle Scout project with the troop, Matthew Unglesbee said.

"I had to do all the planning, get community approval, get all the materials and plan the actual rack," Mr. Unglesbee said. "And then we had to go there and build it."

He said he and the Boy Scouts he recruited to help construct the newest rack clocked about 200 man-hours for the project.

"It was a lot of work," he said.

Mrs. Unglesbee broke the news of the arson to her son yesterday afternoon. He said he was disappointed, but tried not to get too angry.

"It's just a shame that somebody feels that they can get enjoyment out of wrecking a part of the community," he said.

His mother had more trouble holding back her anger.

"I was so upset about it, I couldn't believe it," Mrs. Unglesbee said. "He put in so many hours planning, shopping, building, and he got half the troop to help him build it. It was a really good turn out - so many kids showed up and volunteered 100 hours to help him do that. We were so proud of him. I was sick to my stomach when I found out" about the arson.

The arson not only wrecked projects the Boy Scouts worked hard on, but destroyed more than two dozen canoes and kayaks owned by residents. And the money those residents paid to store their small watercrafts on the racks benefited the Yacht Club of Cape St. Claire Youth Sailing Program, said Ms. Greenhouse of the yacht club.

"The youth sailing has permission from the community to rent the racks for a fundraiser for the sailing program," she said. "We rented them for the first time last year. People enjoyed having them. The racks were full. Some people stored more than one boat. Some stored two to three in one space."

Ms. Coffman recalled seeing the Boy Scouts building the racks outside her waterfront home, and said residents immediately took advantage of having a place to store their canoes and kayaks.

"I'd see them (Boy Scouts) out there working," she said. "They did a really nice job. They were nice racks, made of good wood. People loved having them there."

Ms. Coffman said she is upset someone would destroy the racks, and put nearby homes in danger of catching fire.

She said she was asleep Saturday morning when her neighbor woke her up.

"It was just yellow flames, the entire area was yellow," she said. "It set our hedge on fire and the flames were 20 to 30 feet above that hedge. We got out two hoses and just started wetting it down until firefighters got here."

The burning hedge-line was about 50 feet from Ms. Coffman's home.

"We're lucky it wasn't windy," she said. "If it had been windy it could have spread over to my house. My windows are smoky, so, it was close."

Several residents stopped by the small beach yesterday to look at the damage.

Many were shocked to see that blackened wood and pieces of an aluminum canoe were all that remained.

"That's unbelievable," said John Estep of Cape St. Claire. "It must have been a pretty serious fire."

The canoe's owner, Jimmy Dale of Cape St. Claire, had also stopped by over the weekend to see what was left of his aluminum boat.

Matthew Unglesbee is now a student at Anne Arundel Community College. He said he doesn't know what he could do at this point to fix what others destroyed.

His mom, an adviser and summer camp counselor for Troop 835, said she thinks her son should talk to the younger Boy Scouts and make a lesson out of this - and organize the rebuilding of the rack.

"That's definitely a good idea," Matthew Unglesbee said. "It'd be nice to do."

Anyone with information about the arson can to call the county Fire Department's Arson Tip Line at 410-222-8477. The call can be anonymous.