As reported on the back page of today's edition, a garden that was embellished to a high degree 18 months ago now lies in a ruined state as a result of vandalism.
The garden, situated in Cottonera, has been completely ruined due to people who have thrown stones and broken hand painted tiles. Dustbins were pulled from the ground and others were set fire to.
Other individuals, seemingly very frustrated, invested a lot of time and effort in scratching all the paint away from a set of swings and other playground attractions. The garden in question falls under the remit of the Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs, staff of which are seemingly angry and frustrated at what has happened.
The ministry is said to be taking steps to increase security and upkeep of these gardens, but ultimately, what can be done?
One could always put a CCTV camera there to serve as a deterrent, but vandals will only move on to the next site. That money was invested and has resulted in such a waste is of course annoying to say the least, but there is something worse about it.
People in the South of Malta have long been saying that their corner of Malta does not seem to get as much embellishment as other parts of this tiny country of ours. They are perhaps right, but things have started to move and many micro projects, such as this one, have been launched.
Residents were quite rightly satisfied to see that their area will posses much needed green spaces. It must be terrible for them to see gardens as such reduced to a mess. One must also wonder how much illegal drug taking goes on in places like this.
It might seem very strange, but it is in fact the norm. Vandals and their crowd take pleasure in destroying, or at least damaging, places that are of interest or which are aesthetically pleasing.
You would not see a vandal damaging decrepit sites such as the dockyards or a scrap yard. No... they damage fountains, throw paint and oil at cultural monuments, they destroy temples, they break park benches.
Many will probably say that this is down to frustration at not being able to get a job and social problems. The truth is, it is downright selfishness.
In this particular case, people have decided to purposely destroy a garden that cost money to put into place and that offers locals some space to relax. Many people have tried to answer the question "Just what does drive a vandal to do such things?"
The answers vary, but at the root of it all is a sense of egoism - I will destroy it because I want to, or because I can't have it and neither should you.
Normal people will not understand the motives behind such attacks, and if one were to be completely honest, they are difficult to prevent. The only real way to do it is to encourage residents to inform the police of goings on, but the hold that vandals have over communities is sometimes too strong and people fear reprisals. That could be a scratch to your car, a stone through your window and even personal threatas.
All in all, it's a crying shame. Who built the garden and who is responsible for its upkeep is irrelevant. What is relevant is that such attacks, rather than decreasing, seem to be increasing. Is it a symptom of something worse to come, or is it a disease in itself? Time will tell.