Affected people are starting to express concerns about their safety. Although nobody is blaming authorities just yet, residents of Wiltz hope that the culprits can be identified and stopped as soon as possible.
Between 12 December 2021 and last Saturday, a total of 15 shops became victims of burglaries. Most of them are located on Grand-Rue in upper Wiltz, but recently a business at the lower end of town also became affected.
In conversation with our colleagues from RTL, the owner of a grocery store commented: “Right now we are a little afraid since these situations become more frequent. One does not feel safe here in Wiltz, which goes for business people and private residents. Because we also hear that private people are being robbed.”
Friday night, a clothing store was being robbed for a second time already. The owners find this regrettable not only because of the personal damages, but also because it is giving Wiltz a bad reputation.
The owner thus noted: “It is a beautiful town after all. When I settled down here, I thought there is a lot of potential since Wiltz is pretty and traditional. These break-ins are just sad.”
A book store located inside a municipal building has also been affected by the series of burglaries. The son of the owner elaborated that they installed safety precautions after the incident, including security cameras.
In all cases, the burglars mainly targeted the cash register. However, in some stores they also managed to steal clothes and a laptop. Thus far, police do not think that there is an organised group responsible for the break-ins.
Another local store owner, whose business became the victim of an attempted burglary, praised the efforts of local authorities, but expressed hopes that transparency can be increased: “What I don’t really understand about all of this is how people are informed. It is an important matter to inform people, but looking at the press, nothing is being covered.”
A possible explanation for this lack of coverage might be that none of the aforementioned break-ins have made it into the press releases of the local police department. None of local officials have meanwhile been willing to comment on the situation.
