I am writing this letter to report acts of vandalism occurring practically every week in a day care centre for persons with disabilities, namely the Centru Tahrig at Santa Venera.

Last month one of the most terrible acts of vandalism by unknown persons occurred at the centre. A life size ceramic holy cross, situated in the entrance of the open gardens, was vandalised with the result that this masterpiece of art ended with a missing leg. The persons who vandalised it scattered the various pieces of the leg in the nearby gardens.

Unfortunately the vandals can act quite freely since the two security cameras just a few metres away do not seem to be working.

The premises host a sheltered environment for refugees known as Dar is-Sliem and a common entrance is used both for the refugees and for the Day Centre for Disabled Persons.

This gate is therefore always kept open 24 hours a day for the convenience of the refugees to have access to go in and out. This makes it possible for other persons as well to get inside the gardens when the centre is not being used.

Every week the staff of the day centre have to remove leftover food, plastic bottles, broken pots, broken glass and stones and nobody seems to take any action. Garden light fittings, for illuminating the area, had to be removed to prevent accidents that may occur to the clients and staff of the Day Centre due to the fact that they were vandalised in many occasions.

One must also mention that the surrounding gardens are used regularly by the clients attending the Day Centre for recreation, sport activities and gardening. Apart from all this the clients have to endure this unpleasant environment on a regular basis.

One would expect that something must be done immediately before any more serious incidents happen.

Parent of one of the clients attending the Day Care Centre