Resources Minister George Pullicino has complained about trees being stolen almost as fast as they are planted.
He said on his facebook page that workers from his ministry a few days ago planted 64 young Aleppo Pines on the road from Rabat to Buskett. 50 had been stolen within two days.
New trees were planted. 16 have been stolen so far.
Mr Pullicino told timesofmalta.com that the situation was absurd and disgraceful but the ministry would persist in planting more trees. He hoped a civic sense would prevail.
He added that one could not have CCTV cameras everywhere, and their effectiveness was limited in the dark. Furthermore, he said, this was not a police state with cameras everywhere.