SASSARI - Two masked men attacked a tanker carrying milk and then proceeded to set it alight less than a day after the agreement reached on the price of sheep and goat’s milk, initially set at 74 cents per litre.

 At around 6.30 am Saturday, when the tanker had not yet completed the collection of milk for the “Fratelli Pinna” dairy in Thiesi, two armed men assaulted the vehicle in the municipal territory of Torralba, and then set fire to it. Firefighters intervened on the spot and an investigation was started by the Sassari police force.

 Following the agreement reached Friday on the price of milk, numerous pastors had communicated their discontent via Whatsapp, with some claiming “This is a rip-off,” Il Fatto Quotidiano reported.

 The messages circulated because of an agreement that they claimed “is only good for them,” the industrialists, leaving shepherds feeling “defeated and cheated” after more than a month of struggle and protests over milk prices.

 Addressing the attack on the milk tanker, Coldiretti described the event as “a criminal act, violent and cowardly that weakens the proper battle of the shepherds to give dignity to their work.”

 The farmers’ association then defended the agreement reached and noted that “those who perform these violent gestures must be isolated from everyone and must be aware that it hurts a worker, a category and an entire island.”

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