Editorial

No rational person in Malta can understand why an act of vandalism, like the one just committed at Portes de Bombes, occurs. Yet, we were just as appalled and outraged on April 13, 2001 when vandals attacked Mnajdra, a World Heritage Site, toppling more than 70 megaliths in a senseless wave of rage and vindictiveness.

We can take some consolation from the successful and expert restoration carried out at Mnajdra four years ago. It is commendable to see the speed with which the Valletta Rehabilitation Project of the Ministry of Resources and the Infrastructure has moved now to start repairing the damage done to Portes des Bombes, which, alas, may require some of the stonework to be replaced.

While the staining of Portes des Bombes (and also the Catholic Institute building in Floriana) with used engine oil does not compare for infamy and destructiveness with Mnajdra, it raises the same questions about us as a people.

What kind of a people are we that can harbour in our midst those who would even contemplate such acts - let alone commit them? For, Mnajdra and Portes des Bombes were not the first such crimes committed against heritage sites and monuments. Mnajdra itself had been daubed with graffiti in 1992. The "fingerprints" of those who did this were then all over the crime.

Recently, the offices of the National War Museum Association in Fort St Elmo were vandalised and precious archives lost. And there have been countless other acts of vandalism at less prominent, but nonetheless, important, historic sites from Hal Millieri to Torri l-Ahmar. Daily dumping of rubbish, together with the hunters' and trappers' hides that litter so many of our prime heritage sites, also equate to vandalism. It seems a trait endemic to a large portion in our society - that "cultural underclass" (as someone once referred to it) who are ill-educated, lawless and could not care less about the effect of their anti-social behaviour on their fellow countrymen.

Make no mistake, these deeds - Mnajdra in 1992 and 2001 and Portes des Bombes in 2005 - are deliberate, premeditated acts against society. They are meant to send a message to a majority of us in society who care about - and, indeed, are proud of - our cultural heritage, that there is a powerful section among us who, for reasons known only to themselves, are disaffected. They are prepared to show that discontent in an uncivilised, unacceptable and malicious exercise of aggression - the only language which they themselves, in their closed and ignorant minds, understand.

We can only at this stage guess which section in our society might lie behind this latest act. But it bears all the hallmarks of earlier such manifestations of resentment and malcontent. It is inconceivable that those who did it were not seen. Or that people who know who did this would not come forward with the evidence. To be complicit is to condone.

We must fervently hope that this time the police will be able to catch the perpetrators - unlike Mnajdra in 2001 - and that exemplary punishments will be meted out. The rule of law must prevail against those who would try to subvert it by such mindless acts of vandalism which deliberately strike right at the heart of our national patrimony. Those who deemed it fit to challenge and hurt society in such a shameful manner cannot expect any mercy when they are brought to justice. We all await the police and the judiciary to do their duty towards society they are obliged to serve and protect.