Thieves made off with a batch of 16 trees just a few days after they were planted to replace 50 trees that had been illegally uprooted from Verdala Street, Rabat.

The theft, which was noticed yesterday morning, was strongly condemned by Resources Minister George Pullicino on his Facebook page, who said it was a “shameful act”.

A ministry spokesman said it would remain committed to embellishing Malta and would continue to plant trees.

The spokesman also urged anyone who had any information to pass it on to the police.