Smashed plant pots line a walkway within Floriana's Herbert Ganado gardens, following what appears to be a senseless act of vandalism. 

Photos sent to the Times of Malta show the wanton destruction wreaked on the garden, with smashed pots toppled over, their flowers left to die. The photos were taken yesterday afternoon. 

"I took my son for a walk in the garden and was really disappointed with the dirt and the state of the garden," Claude Degiorgio said. 

Photo: Claude Degiorgio

A new 'dinner in the sky' concept restaurant which lifts diners over the Grand Harbour for €135 a pop lies mere metres away from the presumed vandals' playground.   

The garden falls under the Infrastructure Ministry's remit. The ministry said it was investing heavily to maintain the landscaped areas of the gardens through the public private partnership contract with the Environment Landscape Consortium.

The area was last inspected last Friday and no damages were reported. The ministry also said that, together with the ELC, it was liasing with the police about the issue.

It urged the public to safeguard public spaces so that public funds would be used for embellishment and maintenance rather than for repair.

Floriana mayor Davina Sammut was not surprised to hear about the destruction. 

"It's not the first time we've heard of such things happening there," Ms Sammut sighed. "There is no lighting in the park and it seems to attract the wrong sort of attention, especially now that more young people are hanging out in Valletta."

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Photo: Claude Degiorgio