Sta Venera council worried about repeated vandalism

The Romeo Roman Gardens in Sta Venera have been vandalised three times in almost as many months, with the last attack occurring on Monday evening when the fuse tripped and the lights went out.

The vandals of the latest attack have not been identified but the perpetrators of a "mishap" some weeks ago were found to be minors and the local council is discussing how to deal with them.

"We are considering ways in which they could make good for the damage and learn their lesson - possibly by doing some community work," Mayor Elizabeth Vella said. It transpires the youngsters were photographed in the act, which involved the "beheading" of a statue standing in a fountain.

The Mayor said she did not think Monday's incident was related to that one and she had no clue who could be responsible this time. "We do have depressed areas in the locality but I cannot say it was the work of a resident," she said.

Monday's incident, involving a statue in another fountain, was "planned and ugly", said the mayor in the belief that whoever committed the crime knew the area well as it was carried out without electricity, probably in twilight, giving time to "work".

And it was quite a job. Someone must have stepped into the fountain's empty pond, tied a rope round the foot of its statue and tugged at it until it came crashing down, she explained. The rope was left around it.

The statue was one of two in the gardens, and 100 years old, she said, unable to quantify the cost of the damage.

Architects were determining whether it could be restored.

Investigations are under way and although it would appear that the fuse tripped, she is not excluding that the electricity was tampered with to allow the vandals to operate in peace.

As a solution to the problem, the council is planning to reinstall an "effective" CCTV camera to protect the gardens from the "ongoing process" of vandalism, she said, explaining that the previous one had to be removed for repairs and its view was anyway obstructed by trees.

She said the council would have liked surveillance but it did not have the means to award a contract after making a call for tenders because the prices were exorbitant.

Vandalism in Sta Venera is not just limited to the garden, which people also use as a short cut. The whole locality bears the brunt, with signs being twisted for fun. Its public toilets for persons with disability have been changed three times over the past few months, the most recent being last week.

The mayor claimed the spate of vandalism was possibly aimed at "making us give up and as a means of revenge against the council and its residents".

Asked if she had any enemies, Ms Vella said few people came to thank someone in her position and that she was used to it. Her husband was recently attacked and the assailant arraigned in court, though she excluded any connection with that incident.

"My appeal is that revenge does not get anyone anywhere. If something is bothering anyone, it would be better if they came to talk things over and solved the problem. Any damage is not done to me alone, but to the nation," Ms Vella said.