There were about 30 cases of serious vandalism against heritage and ecological sites or against authority since April 2001, according to an analysis of the past five years carried out by The Times.

Five cases involved damage to monuments, in nine cases used engine oil was resorted to, in eight paint and spray, four cases involved the burning of items, there were three major cases of trees being uprooted and one case involved a shooting.

There were several other cases involving individual acts of arson or wilful damage to property, but as these cases were more likely to be personalised acts of vindictiveness they have not been taken into consideration for this exercise.

Against this scenario, there have been three successful police investigations.

In August 2001, three teenagers were caught spraying graffiti on the wall of the President's Palace, in Attard. The vandals were two brothers from Balzan and another from Attard whose ages ranged from 14 to 17. Acting on information, the police found six cans of spray in a canvas bag when they searched the youngsters. The culprits, who had a clean record, were charged and conditionally discharged for three years though they had to remove the graffiti.

In March 2005, a 17-year-old youngster from Gzira was put on probation for three years after he pleaded guilty to tearing off the arms of a 300-year-old stone crucifix popularly known as Is-Salib ta' Rajt Ma Rajtx u Smajt Ma Smajtx. When asked by the court why he damaged the crucifix, the youth replied he had asked himself the same question when he did it.

In April 2004, five men, including two teenagers, were arraigned on a number of vandalism charges. They were accused of causing over Lm500 damage to the Hal Millieri chapel, and over Lm500 damage to bus shelters, telephone boxes, flower boxes and skips. The case is still in court.

Perhaps the most galling case of vandalism took place in April 2001, when a large number of megaliths were toppled at Mnajdra. Crosses scrawled in several areas of the temple were an attempt to mislead investigators.

In September of that year, it was reported that three individuals were probably responsible for the vandalism but the police did not have sufficient evidence to press charges.

Mnajdra had suffered other attacks of vandalism. In 1996, messages were sprayed on megaliths a day after the general election. And in 1991, when strict hunting regulations were in the offing, pro-hunting slogans and threats to blow up the temples if hunting or trapping were curtailed were daubed on the ancient stones. Fortunately the threats did not materialise.

Politicians contacted for their reaction, as well as Simone Mizzi, the deputy chairman of Heritage Malta and a volunteer with Din l-Art Helwa, Malta's national trust, all agree that vandalism is notoriously difficult to deal with and can never be eliminated. But they said much could be done to prevent and deter it.

Ms Mizzi said prevention of vandalism of sites located in remote places would remain difficult. "Malta is one huge wonderful open air museum of important areas of historic value and natural beauty. Many modern surveillance methods today can catch would-be criminals in the act, however, these are expensive to install and more expensive to manage. It would be better to prevent people 'wanting' to destroy such places of importance.

"Heritage bodies such as Heritage Malta have security costs running into hundreds of thousands of liri, funds that could be so much better spent on restoring and reinstating places of importance for the public's enjoyment if we could reduce the level of protection necessary," she said.

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Harry Vassallo said there were various types of vandalism and an analysis of the causes was necessary.

"In the event of any significant increase in frequency or extent of the vandalism, the necessary response may vary according to whether the causes are the deviance of a single person or a gang or of an emergent sub-culture. One has to see whether the vandalism is an expression of political dissent or whether it arises from social tensions," Dr Vassallo said.

Labour spokesman Roderick Galdes feels there has to be more emphasis on environmental education and the adverse impact of vandalism. He said it would help to have more security at historic sites and the identification of sites that are at risk of being lost or that can be damaged, as well as to beef up the police Administrative Law Enforcement unit.

Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said education in schools could be part of the solution but more had to be done to reach everyone.

"Fines for vandalism have been increased and the crime is investigated by the police Criminal Investigation Department and also by the police terrorism squad when cases involve sabotage," Dr Borg explained.

Mr Galdes feels punishment for vandalism is inadequate. Political parties, he said, should embark on a national campaign to instil civic pride and show the people that what is being vandalised has been paid for through their taxes and it is their money that would have to be used to put it right.

Dr Vassallo disagrees, saying that, instead, the state should have a permanent educational programme aimed at students and the public.

"This should be taken to be the major defence system of our eternally vulnerable heritage assets. Public figures, whether political or not, should be invited to participate in order to establish the underlying common values, to underscore the existence of a permanent consensus extending far beyond the partisan political sphere. It is an excellent opportunity to persuade the population that, beyond political parties, Parliament and the government, the state is a common value, a reality that should protect its people and their heritage and be jealously safeguarded by all citizens from all the tensions generated by other structures and institutions," Dr Vassallo said.

Chronology of shame

Here is a list of recent major acts of vandalism:

• In April 2001, the Republic monument on December 13 Road, Marsa, was vandalised when parts of its stonework were broken.

• Paint was sprayed on the walls of a 17th century tower known as It Torri tal-Hamrija, in Qrendi on August 15, 2001. Obscene words and crosses on three walls of the tower were sprayed with blue and red paint. The tower was undergoing the finishing touches of a Lm24,000 restoration job.

• The chapels of St Matthew at il-Maqluba and the chapel of St Catherine, both in the limits of Qrendi, were defaced with black spray paint graffiti on September 27, 2001. The two chapels had just been restored.

• Between December 2001 and January 2002, Enemalta's major 33kV supply lines in Mizieb were repeatedly vandalised, causing power cuts in Mellieha and other parts of the north. Enemalta said someone had shot at the supply lines, which are suspended by 80-foot high electricity pylons, and shattered the glass discs used to isolate the high voltage lines. Some 33 glass insulators were broken or damaged and had to be changed.

• In May 2002, the Punic tombs at Xemxija Ridge, which date back to 4000 BC, were daubed with paint and their entrance was filled with stones. In December, vandals truck twice at Romeo Romano garden, damaging benches, signs, plants and stonework. Litter bins near the garden and in a playground were set on fire.

• In January 2003, a gate leading to the prehistoric Mnajdra temples, in Qrendi, was burnt. A tyre was tied to the gate and set ablaze. In the same month, graffiti was sprayed on parts of the Victoria Lines, in the Gharghur area.

• In September 2003, an arson attack was carried out on the offices of the War Museum Association, in Lower Fort St Elmo, Valletta.

• October 2003 was a bad month for vandalism: Obscenities were daubed on the walls of Sta Lucija parish church, the Hal Millieri chapel, in Zurrieq, was vandalised and a large amount of used oil was thrown over the megaliths of the prehistoric temple site at L-Imrejzbiet, in the limits of Ghajnsielem.

• On March 31, 2004, part of Fort Campbell, in Mellieha, was reduced to a pile of rubble. Vandals demolished the fire control position that was used to direct the firing of the three coast artillery guns of the fort, which was still in near pristine condition before it was destroyed.

• The vandal act in which about 3,000 pine saplings were destroyed at the Foresta 2000 site in Mellieha, last May, was not the only attack on trees and natural heritage. In July 2006, two attempts were made to set alight the afforestation project. Over 200 saplings were destroyed and about 300 Aleppo pine saplings were damaged. In July 2006, at least six attempts were made to set Buskett on fire. In September 2006, trees were uprooted from the Foresta 2000 site. In May 2004, over 150 trees were burnt after a deliberate fire was started at Wied Ghollieqa Nature Reserve.

• Over 200 trees at Tal-Buqqana Road, leading from Mtarfa to Mosta, were destroyed by vandals on May 26, 2005.

• Portes des Bombes, in Blata l-Bajda was attacked three times in less than six months, the first time in May 2005 and the most recent last October. In the May attack, used engine oil in beer bottles was thrown in two spots on both the façades of the gate, the one facing Blata l-Bajda and the other facing Floriana. The same substance was also thrown on the side of the Catholic Institute, in Floriana, during the night. But here bright green paint was also splashed along with the oil.

• There was a spate of other incidents involving the use of used engine oil at that time. The night before, burnt oil was splashed on the façade of the St Paul's Bay Nationalist Party club. On Monday night, a private residence in Mtarfa and commercial premises in Zurrieq were also vandalised.

• In the two other incidents at Portes des Bombes, graffiti was sprayed on the gate and the adjacent bastions on one side of the road. Words in a foreign language were sprayed on the aqueduct opposite the Farsons brewery, in Mriehel, in October 2005.

• In April last year, the paving at one of the most historic gates in Vittoriosa, Couvre Port, was the target of vandals who soiled it with a large quantity of used engine oil. In September, there were vandal attacks at Sta Lucija, where bins on wheels, cars and the playing field and the Garden of Serenity were targeted.

• Last March, vandals spilled spent oil on the wall and the paving at the Wied Iz-Zurrieq belvedere, which was recently constructed by the government at a cost of about Lm500,000. A few days later a bus shelter, a farmhouse and a stretch of rubble wall close to Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples were vandalised and graffiti sprayed on the walls. Insulting remarks in misspelt Maltese also covered a road sign in the area. A quantity of plastic bottles, containing used engine oil, were thrown over the fence into the Ghadira Nature Reserve.

• Last April, used engine oil was again used when it was thrown on the rocky beach next to Wignacourt Tower at St Paul's Bay.