A person has been charged with defacing a protected Għar Lapsi site for the second time in a week, the Malta Ranger Unit (MRU) said on Monday.

The suspect was one of two individuals seen burning and scattering chipboard, which releases toxic formaldehyde, at the protected Natura 2000 site in Siġġiewi on Sunday, March 5.

He was caught red-handed just hours after he had been served with police charges for a similar offence also committed in Għar Lapsi just a week earlier.

On February 26, rangers saw the individual together with another person empty a still-hot BBQ onto a Mediterranean thyme plant, in broad daylight.

They are also alleged to have left behind a significant amount of litter and left behind a “large bag of garbage,” the MRU said in a Facebook post.

“They were aware of the charges when they came a second time,” an MRU spokesperson said. “It has become clear that education is not enough”.

The spokesperson said the volunteer-run MRU has now turned to monitoring sites, a decision that involves “hours and hours of watching and waiting.”

They thanked the police’s environmental protection unit for their swift response after rangers alerted them to the crimes. The EPU has already charged two people over the February 26 incident and will now issue further charges in relation to the March 5 one.

In total, three people will be charged.

Fines for littering fall between €150 to €300 yet, according to subsidiary legislature 549.40, those charged may receive an additional fine of €300 to €1000 “due to the historical and environment importance of the site.”

The MRU is currently in the process of registering itself as an NGO, the spokesperson said as currently, “we are just a group of people who care about the environment.” 

Its volunteers witnessed the environmental crimes while keeping watch at the site together with environmental activist group 7R Lifestyle Malta

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