The news that some 3,000 trees in Mellieha were uprooted, chopped or otherwise damaged last week immediately brought about public disdain.

The trees had been planted over the past three years as part of the Mellieha afforestation project, Foresta 2000, which is managed by the Park Department, BirdLife Malta and Din l-Art Helwa.

The deviousness with which the attack was premeditated and planned was unprecedented in Malta. We have had a string of attacks on public property, where heritage sites and monuments have been the target of vandals. But we never had an attack like this.

Condemnation of the attack has come from all quarters. Din L-Art Helwa president Martin Galea described the offence as “sad” and “a case of

organised cultural vandalism”, Police Commissioner John Rizzo called them “acts of

terrorism” and “senseless, criminal acts”, while Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino said the incident hurt the entire Maltese community.

In a rare demonstration of unity, the three main political parties issued a joint statement to censure the attack, making it clear that “if those responsible for the act are doing so to get some form of message across, rest assured that none of us will consider your plight”.

The police, rightly so, have given top priority to the incident, and Mr Rizzo said that the matter has been passed on to the corps’ Criminal Investigation Department to investigate, rather than left in the hands of the district police.

It will not be an easy matter to sort out, as has often been the case in similar instances that have occurred in the past. But we are sure that the police will leave no stone unturned in order to bring the perpetrators to book. Once caught, society will expect those proven guilty of such a despicable act to be given the sentence they deserve, in the hope that this will act as a deterrent to others who might be considering other attacks on the Maltese population.

Because that is ultimately what it was. What happened in Mellieha was an attack on Maltese society, and no matter what the reasons behind it were, it should be treated as such. And society needs to react with vehemence against this kind of

intimidation.

In a way, society has already “reacted”, not only through its outright condemnation of the incident, but by trying to make up for the environmental damage that was caused. HSBC and Maltacom were among the first to dip into their pockets and come up with a Lm10,000 donation to begin repairing or replacing the damaged trees.

Italian Ambassador Paolo Andrea Trabalza also made a donation – the Italian government had donated 8,000 trees for the project – while bank accounts have been opened at both HSBC and Bank of Valletta for anyone wishing to make a

contribution.

Public response has been encouraging, and this shows that people have responded to the appeal that has been made. More and more people should take the cue and contribute towards this cause. By making a small donation, they will show that they will not allow a few vandals to destroy what is, after all, public property that should be enjoyed by one and all.

Other firms should also follow the example given by Maltacom and HSBC, and should themselves offer their financial assistance. It is known that many firms are today more aware of the need to protect the environment, and newspapers have often reported that companies have planted trees as part of their corporate social responsibility

programme.

Our condemnation of what happened in Mellieha last week should not stop at words, it should be translated into money so that the Foresta 2000 project can continue to grow.