It is a small corner of nature in the middle of the HLM.
A small duck pond surrounded by the six subdivisions of the Saultemont municipal residential park, in Pont-Sainte-Maxence (Oise).
It's almost forty years since mallards and geese have been splashing around here in semi-freedom, without ever having the slightest problem.
Nothing, until that night from Sunday to Monday, when three people broke into the enclosure ... to try to steal the thirty or so ducks.
"I was awake and I felt that something was happening", rewinds Maryline, who receives at the foot of her building, close to the pond and its small stone bridge.
"I shouted, shouted, I didn't think about it"
This little green setting is a bit his.
And especially that of her husband, François, recently deceased, who patiently built this refuge for more than thirty years.
So that night, around four in the morning, when the former warden of the subdivision hears the commotion at the bottom of the building, she rushes to her window and sees two vehicles parked near the enclosure.
“There were two women and a man.
They had forced the fence and began to transport the ducks in the trunk, still chokes Maryline.
I screamed, screamed.
I didn't think about it, I got in front of the car to stop them.
"
"They touched something that shouldn't be"
Pan on the beak!
Caught hand in the bag, the three visitors for an evening, a bit sheepish, hasten to put the animals back in their enclosure.
"They were confused in apologies," annoys the Maxipontaine, who filed a complaint with the gendarmerie on Monday.
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But why did you want to attack these ducks for which the neighborhood is famous and which young and old come to observe throughout the year?
"Saultemont without its ducks is more Saultemont", summarizes Marie-Thérèse, friend and neighbor of Maryline.
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"They told us that they were vegan activists and that a person had told them that the ducks were mistreated," breathes the former guard.
But this is entirely false.
They are in good health and are fed by us.
These people should have inquired before taking action.
They've hit on something they shouldn't.
"
“Once we have passed the limits, there are no more limits, blows the mayor (LR) of the town, Arnaud Dumontier, also put in the scent of this funny commando operation.
"This place is our heritage"
The harm may be limited, but the emotion remains strong in the bereaved family.
Touching François' ducks is a little insulting his memory, the day after his death.
"He took care of it throughout his life for the pleasure of young and old," smiles his wife.
It was his passion, his babies as he said… I would like them to realize the harm they have done us ”
François Parmentier, recently deceased, maintained his duck refuge for more than thirty years.
"This place is our heritage," insists even Sébastien, the son, who, smaller, had "his" duck which accompanied him on the way to school.
This is something we want to continue.
It must be done for his memory.
"
Not too resentful, Maryline today appeals to small hands to continue to bring the work of her husband to life.
Starting with the person behind the possible malicious denunciation.
"If she and others want to join us in making what François has been doing for 30 years, they will be welcome," she says.