Why?

You always hear stories of vandalism on allotments, crops being ripped off the ground, tools being stolen or even worse, sheds being burnt down.

For some reasons, I have always considered our allotment safe. After all, Riddrie is a fairly quiet residential area, home to many families with small(ish) children, young professionals and older folks. I have lived there for well over a year now and always feel safe walking around even late at night, I've never witnessed any trouble or seen any broken windows or stolen cars. I sometimes go to the allotment after dark to pick some bits and pieces for our tea and never worry about meeting unsavoury characters on my way. The only person I normally see down there “out of hours” is the cat lady feeding the local wild residents.

Of course, I did hear the stories : the greenhouse on our plot many years ago at which the kids threw so many stones that nothing is left of it now apart from the bricks foundations, the many failed attempts at shed burning on the plots at the back and a number of thefts. But I guess I really didn't take them in, I was naive or deluded and I continued to believe our allotments were safe and we didn't have a vandalism problem.

On Saturday, when I found that the lock at the gate had been sawed, I didn’t think much of it. It’s only on Monday night that a chat with my neighbour revealed what had actually happened: the lock had to be cut open by the fire brigade last Thursday evening when a neighbour reported a fire on the allotments. It turns out our secretary’s beautiful shed had been burnt to the ground. He’s on holiday at the moment and doesn’t know anything about the destruction. He will be devastated when he comes back. His shed was without a shadow of a doubt the nicest shed on the allotment, a work of art, it looked like a small chalet, neat and painted, not like the normal allotment sheds made of all sorts. It must have required hours and hours of work and I can imagine a fair bit of investment. You could see it from the entrance gate and at the weekends, guess the shadow of the secretary through the windows reading the paper or listening to a Celtic match on the radio. Now all you can see is a big pile of ashes. It really breaks my heart and I really don’t understand why someone would do that to another human being. What is the point? Does it make them feel strong and powerful to destroy someone else’s properties? What are their motives? I don’t get it.