Mellieħa Council Steps In To Help Teenager With ADHD Replant Vandalised Field
Mellieħa Local Council has teamed up with Għaqda Siġar Maltin to donate several trees to a 14-year-old boy with ADHD whose field was vandalised overnight.
Jayden Scicluna and his father woke up this morning only to find that their 14 newly-planted olive trees were stolen.
In addition, the thieves also stole a statue of the Virgin Mary and broke the CCTV, prompting the father to upload an emotional video on Facebook.
“Why are you doing this? I didn’t take anything from anyone. I came this morning and found everything broken,” he said.
In the video, Joseph Scicluna Pesu claims he knows who vandalised his field, which he leases from the government, and pointed his finger to a group of hunters who recently gained dominion over the Aħrax area.
The dispute also seems to concern a rubble wall dividing the land.
“I can’t take it anymore, I’m crying. They didn’t leave a single tree, they broke everything,” he said.
Following the devastating news, Mellieħa local councillor Gabriel Micallef reached out to environment NGO Għaqda Siġar Maltin to help recoup the costs for Jayden.
“Following intervention by Mellieħa Local Council, Għaqda Siġar Maltin agreed to donate more trees to support Jayden’s cause,” the NGO said.
PN minority leader Ivan Castillo also expressed his solidarity with Scicluna and offered his help to remedy the vandalism.
Jayden spent his most of 2020 planting and taking care of his trees in his neighbourhood in the hope that it would inspire other teengers to do their part to take care of the environment.
His noble deed attracted attention from neighbours who chipped in to help with his project, including donations of olive trees to be planted.
Apart from last night’s theft, Jayden has had other parts of his project vandalised.
“I planted some vegetables but they were vandalised by someone over the past few weeks,” he said.
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