A fire that destroyed an old Shoney’s restaurant in Hardeeville this morning is being called suspicious by fire officials.

The fire started at about 6 a.m. at the former restaurant near Interstate 95. The building on Mockingbird Lane had been vacant for about a year.

Hardeeville, Bluffton and Jasper County firefighters worked for more than an hour to extinguish the blaze, and it took several more hours to control hot spots.

The SLED arson team is investigating the cause of the fire.