taking a grass roots approach to solving the problem of vandalism.

While taking his young grandsons on a picnic to the Alexandra Battery recently, Richard Warner was appalled to see the graffiti defacing the interior of one of Bermuda's historical monuments.

"I almost cried,'' said Mr. Warner. "It's just overwhelming to see. I'm lost for words.

"It's just an out and out mess. There was graffiti and trash and litter all over the place.

"That's a historical site being ruined. Tourists don't even stop there anymore. I remember years ago going down there and talking to tourists -- but now it's almost total alienation.

"When I was there the other day I watched the tourists -- they drove and looked and drove right by.

"How do we let this happen -- a Country with all this wealth?'' Alexandra Battery has fallen victim to youth vandals repeatedly over the past several years. Thousands of dollars have been sunk into repairing and restoring the historic site, but fresh graffiti continues to appear.

Lance Furbert, Forts Curator at the Parks Department, said he believed that cultivating a relationship with the young men who live in the area and frequent Alexandra Battery was one of the first steps in preventing future vandalism.

Mr. Furbert said: "I have been talking to young men in the area and they are recognising that it is a blight in their community.

"We had a group of young men from the area hold a little function there recently, which I was thrilled about. A young man named Feretfe Smith was the spokesman for the group, and they requested a permit to hold a family day for the community last Good Friday.

"It was a really wonderful event that brought the community out. They not only cleared up after, but before, too.

"I think it's mainly young males who are the perpetrators of vandalism, but more young men are realising that this is a problem in their communities. I am optimistic that when we are able to restore the fort again, at least people in the neighbourhood will feel more involved with it.

"We meet informally every so often. They would be sitting around when I'd go down there and I think that at first they viewed me as a nuisance. I've been talking with them more though, and now they're beginning to see the fort as a valuable asset for the Island.

"It's rewarding to see them come on board and feel a part of it. It's my hope that they'll be involved somehow in our future plans for the fort and that they do feel that they have a stake in it.'' However plans to repair the fort will be suspended until a definitive plan to combat future acts of vandalism can be settled on.

Mr. Furbert said: "We've paid to clean up Alexandra Battery three or four times and this just keeps happening. What we're hoping is that we'll get a dedicated individual to be based at that site. Until we do, we won't be able to sink any more money into it.

"If I had my way, it would be up and running tomorrow, but it's going to take a little patience while decisions are made. There is a group at the moment who is looking into exactly what we're going to do in terms of forts in Bermuda.

We have to make sure we have a solid plan before we do anything. For instance, we put a sign up explaining some of the history of Gates Fort. It lasted less than two nights. We found pieces of it later. There's no point in putting more money in until we can stop this from happening.

"Thankfully vandalism isn't a real problem except for at Gates Fort and Alexandra Battery. In most other sites we haven't had problems. The Government is very interested and has been involved in the process.''