Mail thieves spoil Christmas spirit

It seems some petty thieves were out to spoil Christmas Eve for Sliema residents who yesterday morning woke up to find their mail opened and thrown out on the Sliema front.

Nicolette Mifsud, who lives in Tower Road, walked out of her home to find torn envelopes on the pavement and a trail of mail across the road.

She followed the envelopes and saw others on the rocks below and floating in the sea. Two envelopes bearing her name had been torn from the side; they were two greeting cards coloured and posted by her seven-year-old daughters.

"It is horrendous that people's privacy is infringed in this way," Ms Mifsud told The Sunday Times.

Among the opened mail were bank statements, an envelope containing the result of a medical test and Christmas cards sent from the United States. A play.com cardboard package - empty of course - was addressed to one of the residents.

The way most envelopes were torn from the side and dumped with Christmas cards still inside indicates the thieves might have been looking for cash, even though valuables are normally sent by registered mail.

Ms Mifsud said she called the police station to report what had happened but got nowhere.

Maltapost PRO Tony Barbaro Sant and chief executive officer Joseph Gafà, who immediately went to Sliema upon being alerted by The Sunday Times, collected more envelopes from the shore and the seabed where the water is shallow.

They noticed that most envelopes dated back to December 19 and 20, according to the Maltapost stamp, which implies that "they were distributed by postmen at least three or four days ago".

"Someone must have been stealing the mail from the letter boxes and putting it back days after taking the valuables inside. But something must have gone wrong for the culprits this time," Mr Gafà said.

Access to letterboxes of flats is easily accessible because the common front door is usually unlocked. While envelopes can be easily pulled out of certain letterboxes, mail can be stolen more easily at this time of year when all kind of mail and promotional material is squeezed into tiny letter box slots.

Mr Gafà said Maltapost was taking the issue very seriously and would contact all residents in the area to inform them about what precautions they could take.

All the envelopes collected from the street were passed on to Maltapost, which is also expected to refer the matter to the police.