50 saplings stolen from Dwejra

Nearly 50 tamarisk trees newly planted at Gozo's Dwejra Heritage Park, barely a month ago, have been uprooted and stolen.

The saplings, planted by children of the locality and their parents, were each labelled with a tag with the names of those who had adopted the tree.

The incident comes in the wake a vandal attack on the Foresta 2000 project in Mellieha earlier this month, when 3,000 trees were destroyed.

Nature Trust has issued a statement condemning the theft, which occurred on Sunday night, ruining a joint venture with the Environment Ministry's 34U campaign and the San Lawrenz local council.

Nature Trust president Vince Attard said the trees had been planted along a newly restored rubble wall in a bid to mitigate the eyesore of neighbouring quarries.

"In all, we planted 50 trees, and they have all been stolen with the exception of four, which have been uprooted, vandalised and left on site," he said.

Mr Attard said that just over a month ago, five trees planted by Germany's Environment Minister, were stolen from the same place.

"I cannot understand this vice some of the Maltese seem to have. These incidents just go to prove that there are still individuals who continue to act against our natural heritage and society," he added.

Around the time of the attack on Foresta 2000, vandals had targeted the Dwejra park and walked off with an information panel detailing the woodland's habitat.

The tamarisk trees were part of conservation activities for Dwejra being conducted under the EU LIFE programme.

Mr Attard said Nature Trust will be working to replace the trees for the sake of those children who had donated the money to adopt a tree showing their environmental awareness. 

The non-government organisation urged the Gozo police to investigate the incident thoroughly.