Foreign students ‘soiled’ St Julians

St Julians residents woke to find soil from planters strewn about their street yesterday morning – the work of inebriated foreign students.

Had they taken the flowers to give to a girl, I’d understand, but it is just vandalism

It is the third time in a week that the area around Church Street and Spinola Road has been subjected to “acts of vandalism”, including garbage bags being split open.

The latest incident has prompted residents to insist it was “too much” and warn: “Someone has to be responsible before something drastic happens”.

Once again, Joe Schranz, who lives some 10 metres away, was woken at around 3 a.m. by the shouts of intoxicated students, who did not just stop at singing and screaming.

“My wife went on to the balcony and saw about three guys in their late teens ripping apart the planters in the streets, just for the sake of it,” he said.

St Julian's residents are irate about soil from planters they found emptied into the common areas of their apartment block over the weekend.

They emptied the contents of one into the common area of an apartment block he owns and discarded it.

“Surely they do not do this in their own country,” Mr Schranz said, insisting he had had “more than enough” but admitting he could not do much to change the situation. Getting locals to sign a petition would be useless, he maintained.

“We called the police and, although they do their best to cooperate, it is hard for them to cope on a Saturday night.

“They always show up but it could be too late to catch the vandals. We do not blame them.”

Mr Schranz’s wife, who walks along the seafront in the early morning, often encounters drunk and sometimes obnoxious foreigners as they head home from a night out.

Mopeds parked in the street were not spared Sunday’s soil shower either, and the Italian owner of a scooter who was about to head for the beach found it covered in soil.

“I hope it has not been damaged,” said the man, who lives in the area and was not looking forward to washing his bike down later in the day.

Nicky Pillow, owner of Lulu Restaurant in Church Street, said students had even jumped on car bonnets during the week.

“I try to embellish the area and they uproot the plants, squash and throw them on the streets, even pulling them off the railings and smashing them,” he said.

“Had they taken the flowers to give to a girl, I’d understand, but it is just vandalism.

“I am very unhappy with the situation but I won’t get anywhere if I report them. Having said that, I would never take the law into my own hands.”

At 4.30 a.m. on Sunday, Mr Pillow walked round Spinola Palace to see if he could apprehend anyone carrying a plant but there were too many people about, he said.