Arsonists destroyed three Game Service vehicles, including a fire truck, in an overnight attack at Evrychou as the gamekeepers’ union accused management of ignoring repeated warnings about security failures.
Fire broke out around 1:25 am in Game Service vehicles parked at the Evrychou Community Council parking area in Nicosia district, police said. Police and fire service investigators who examined the scene determined the blaze was arson.
The fire damaged three Game Service vehicles, one of which was a fire truck, before fire crews extinguished it, according to police.
The Hourly-Paid Gamekeepers Branch of ISOTITA Pan-Cyprian Union said criminals turned two Game Service vehicles to ash and rubble shortly after midnight at the Evrychou station.
The incident adds to a mounting list of attacks, the union said. Last week criminals burned and completely destroyed a colleague’s vehicle in Paphos, whilst service vehicles were also destroyed in Limassol in the recent past, according to the union.
The destruction of Game Service vehicles is not simply damage to state property but a direct attack on the public interest, environment and the country’s culture, the union said.
Each vehicle taken out of action weakens protection of biodiversity, game wealth and rural safety, it said. “The perpetrators are not burning metal—they are burning the shield protecting Cypriot nature,” the union said.
The union called on any citizens with information about those responsible for the criminal acts to contact authorities immediately, even anonymously. “Silence is complicity in the crime against our country,” it said.
The union said it supports close cooperation with police to solve the arsons and arrest the perpetrators.
The union said it had repeatedly warned management and the Interior Ministry about non-existent security measures at vehicle storage areas.
The area where last night’s fire occurred is an “open field” without fencing or security cameras, despite the union warning management in writing three years ago, it said.
Criminals and poachers act without fear based on information they receive from corrupt individuals within the service, the union said.
The union said Game Service management responded to its statements by saying the union makes “rhetoric” and “poisons the climate.” Management asked the union in writing to make actions not just words and to turn to police about corruption within the service, according to the union.
The union said police have a role in solving crimes like arson, but addressed the Game Service head directly: “Mr Head of Game Service, it is your job to tackle internal corruption within your own house and not the police’s, as you told us last week in your letter.”
The union said the head recently sent a written response trying to show the Game Service is “angelically formed.”
“We expect to see your actions against organised crime first, and then we will take the good example from you,” the union told the head. “Behind closed doors and introversion, problems are not solved.”
The union told frontline colleagues that ISOTITA remains their shield of protection in the unequal struggle.