Warsaw police are looking for the person or persons responsible for destroying an apiary kept on the premises of the Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów. "Twenty bee families lived here. Three of them are already gone. The condition of the rest is yet to be determined," the museum said in a statement.
The Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów said in a Facebook post that a person or a group of persons had destroyed an apiary located on its premises. "Someone smashed the beehives using fire extinguishers. They took out the frames with bees and scattered them around. Low temperature and showers, which moved over Warsaw at night, were enough to effectively annihilate bee families," the museum said on Tuesday (April 16).
"Huge impact on the ecosystem"
"We lack words to describe what we saw in the morning. Whoever did this knew why they came here for and knew what they wanted to do - to destroy the apiary. Why? For what reason?" - the museum directors wrote.
They added that the apiary had been used to host educational activities, beekeeping courses, while the produced honey would end up being used in cooking workshops in the museum. "Bees have a huge impact on the ecosystem and our lives. We are unable to describe how huge a damage has been done with this act of vandalism," the museum underscored, assuring that the police were on the case.
"We hope the perpetrator or perpetrators will be detained shortly and severely punished," we read.
CCTV footage secured
Officer Ewa Kołdys confirmed that Warsaw police were looking into the matter.
"The apiary was destroyed between April 15 and 16 in the Museum of King Jan III's Palace at Wilanów grounds. Five hives have been damaged. Police officers secured the crime scene and evidence, including CCTV footage. The materials will be used in the ongoing investigation," the officer explained.
"We are trying to identify the perpetrators," Kołdys added.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, tvnwarszawa.pl
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Muzeum Pałacu Króla Jana III w Wilanowie, Facebook