More cell phone antennas torched in Cyprus

It turns out that another cell phone antenna was torched in Limassol earlier this week, when media reported on a second arson attack within just one month.

According to local media, CYTA phone company officials learned on Wednesday that a cell phone antenna had been set on fire earlier this week, probably on Monday night when a similar incident had caused technical difficulties and was widely reported.

Services were not immediately dropped at the location of the third antenna, which is installed at a different place in the city, while officials said they noticed some issues on the network and discovered the arson days later after carrying out an onsite inspection.

On Monday, police said unknown individuals attempted to set on fire a different cell phone antenna which was located at the rooftop of a Limassol supermarket. The incident caused connectivity issues in the area, as no tower or other antennas were nearby.

Monday night’s arson attack came after a similar incident took place in Limassol two weeks earlier, when another CYTA cell phone tower was set alight after it was mistakenly identified as a 5G cell tower.

At least three incidents have taken place as Cyprus is beginning to see conspiracy theories rise, drawing connections between 5G technology and the coronavirus pandemic.

The island is no stranger to conspiracy theories, that beyond health concerns associated with 5G, posts on social media raised the alarm over an alleged secret installation of 5G infrastructure amid the coronavirus lockdown.

This got the attention of President Nicos Anastasiades, who described the incident as “a criminal act” that ended up depriving local people their access to telecommunications.