Vegetable garden association Klein Hofland in Beverwijk fell victim to a set fire twice this weekend. This brings the total number of attempts this month to six. The members find it frightening. “At first you think it was an incident, now it really seems to be targeting us.”
Last Saturday’s annual Christmas dinner started with an unpleasant announcement. “A fire has been set again, this time at the greenhouse.” Everyone is shocked and outraged, but that thought quickly fades into the background when they sit together at the table and pass around the homemade dishes.
But then it happened again on Sunday morning. The door of the association house has been destroyed. Shards of glass lie on the floor and paint is peeling from the blackened door. The disabled step, which was silver yesterday, is now jet black. As if that wasn’t enough, the rain pipe also appears to have been ripped off the greenhouse. “It’s scary,” says chairman Jan de Ridder. “It started with the garbage cans in the back, but now they are also targeting the house.”
Text continues below image.
Who could it be?
The idea that this was a one-off prank has now been discussed. “This is targeted,” says volunteer Marcel, seething with anger.
It is difficult to imagine that someone deliberately targeted a vegetable garden where volunteers produce food for the food bank. Yet that question continues to haunt the members. “I said to my wife yesterday: is anyone against the way we work?” Jan wonders. “Or perhaps the perpetrator is against multiculturalism?”
It is not the first time that the club has been attacked. For a while, loitering youth made a gang of the site and they have also been victims of a series of burglaries. “But I think this is by far the worst,” says Jan.
Suspect spotted
The fire at the greenhouse was noticed on Friday evening by an observant passer-by, after which the fire brigade was called in and the fire was extinguished. On Sunday morning, volunteer Henk discovered the blackened door, which had probably extinguished itself. The men screwed two wooden planks onto the door to keep it usable for the time being. They also placed a large piece of chipboard in front of the greenhouse on Saturday to temporarily close the hole.
“We are renovating it, we painted everything last spring, and then someone like that comes by every time,” says Marcel. “Yesterday I sat here with a group in the evening in the hope that he would come back, but that is not possible every night.” At one of the previous four fires, a volunteer caught a glimpse of the arsonist. According to him, it was a man around forty with a goatee and a baseball cap.
Text continues below image.
Afraid it won’t stop
A report has been filed and the police have visited, but so far they have little use for the information. An investigation will be started based on the report.
“It’s difficult to put a security guard here all the time,” says Jan. That is why the men are now going to install a camera themselves to monitor the situation.
Salvage also visited, a foundation that helps fire victims with financial settlements. “We are insured for contents and buildings, so I hope we can also go to insurance with this. It all costs time and money that you would rather spend on other things,” says Jan.
With a tense face, Jan lights a cigarette. “I hardly ever smoke, but now I need a cigarette.” As he looks at the house, he expresses his concerns. “What I’m afraid of is that it won’t stop there. That he will continue until things really get to hell, and I don’t know if there will still be enough energy in the group to rebuild everything,” says Jan .