A foreign travel agency has admitted to police for spraying illegal red arrows on rubble walls across Malta and Gozo.
On Wednesday morning, police raided the hotel room of the travel agency, Nature Extreme Development (NED), the French agency had organised a ‘Malta & Gozo Island Ultra-Trail’ from the 22nd to the 29th August 2020.
The police stopped the group this morning in Ghajn Tuffieha, where the group were preparing for a trail run. The police then raided the travel agency’s hotel rooms and the red spray cans were found.
The group admitted that they had sprayed the red arrows and had bought the cans locally, being informed that the spray was biodegradable.
The group were staying at the Paradise Bay Resort Hotel in Cirkewwa.
In a statement, the ERA said that the organisation has until Friday to remove all its signs, and is cooperating in doing so.
"The complete removal of these signs will be assured by the Environment & Resources Authority (ERA) together with the Police Force and with the Majjistral Park rangers in relation to signs within that Park", the ERA said, noting that if the signs are not removed by Friday then further action will be considered.
NED promoted the ultra-trail run as a run through “technical paths in a heavenly setting”. In a detailed sheet, the group state that the markups of the trail will be marked with red and white ‘rubalisa’ which could be translated to barricade tape.
Last week Majjistral Nature and History Park had noted a number of arrows sprayed in red paint on protected rubble walls. The Park said that the paint is hazardous for wildlife and removing such markings can only be done by using even more chemicals, thus adding more damage.
The sprayed arrows were reported to the police and the Mellieha Local Council.
Other similar markings have been flagged by a number of local trail runners and cyclists who have noted that such markings can be found in other parts of the island such as Gnejna, Ghajnsielem and in Gozo.
Such rubble walls are protected under law due to their historical importance, and as they are a habitat for Maltese biodiversity.