Cars set on fire for third night in a row in Veen

Various cars were set on fire again in the night of Saturday to Sunday in Veen, a village in Noord-Brabant. Just like the past two nights, residents of the town gathered in the Witboomstraat to watch the two cars and a horse trailer burn. Fireworks were also set off.

Yesterday, the Mayor of the area, Egbert Lichtenberg, urged residents to use “their common sense.” “We don’t want to move towards a situation where we have to take additional measures,” he said in a statement.

The village had already experienced several restless nights. Mayor Lichtenberg called the night from Friday to Saturday, a “low point.” According to him, social workers were then attacked while doing their job.

It has been a tradition for years in Veen to set scrap cars aflame. This often leads to unrest. Riots escalated in the village in 2013, also just before New Year’s Eve. “Some customs are to be appreciated,” said Mayor Lichtenberg. “This practice, where scrap cars are set on fire, is less pleasant, however.”