The certainty wasn't there but the suspicion was and now there is no longer any doubt. They are mostly lively old ladies armed with shopping bags or trolleys. Some even bring scissors and spades with them to complete the job. And there are even those who take away the vases placed outside the shops. A situation that had already been reported by gardeners themselves some time ago: in some areas there wasn't even time to plant primroses and daisies which were no longer to be found the next day. It happens in Quartu, for example in via Brigata Sassari and then again in via Porcu and in the whole area in front of the Municipality, the points where the colored flowers are generally placed.
The shopkeepers
"They've been stealing flowers in front of our shop for years," says Mary Porta of the L'Elfo gift shop in via Porcu, "when I place the carts outside with plants and flowers inside they also take the vases away." That they were unsuspecting grannies, Porta had known for some time: «Once I actually caught a lady red-handed» he says, «she was with her hands in vases, with a trolley and I said to her “excuse me what's going on?” doing?" and she said, "what does it matter, they are flowers from the Municipality". I told her it wasn't a nice gesture and she left grumbling. An old woman had told another trader that she wanted to put them in her garden." Not far away Sergio Piludu, from Casa Olla, adds: «Just a short time ago I saw these ladies going around the flowers and trying to uproot them. Then they felt they were being observed and left."
Continuous thefts
Thefts that occur in daylight, morning or evening make little difference, as happened just a few days ago in via Brigata Sassari where a granny was noticed and photographed while taking away flowers from a public flowerbed in front of the Michelangelo Pira room, carelessly of the many people at the bus terminus. «They take, tear and put in the bag, we've all seen them» reveals Manuel Puddu of Box Abbigliamento in via Porcu, «I've caught them even at 11 in the morning. I believe that in Quartu there is a lot of social discomfort, they do these things without even realizing it."
In the cemetery
And the same happens in the cemetery too. Here too the flowers disappear, not from the flowerbeds but from the tombs of the deceased where relatives had placed them with care and love. And even in this case, elderly women have been identified several times who either placed them in the tombs of their loved ones or took them home to embellish gardens and balconies. Not only that: there were reports of people trying to resell the newly stolen flowers outside the cemetery.
Giorgia Daga
