Just a few days after the foundation stone was laid, an excavator burned on the construction site of the new auxiliary stadium in Arachinovo. The fire was reported to police early on 30 September, at around 02:36. The Volvo excavator was being used on the build and belongs to a man from Batinci. Crews from the Skopje Fire Brigade put out the blaze, and no one was hurt.

The cause has not been officially established yet, and the police are working to clear up the case. Arachinovo mayor Daut Bekjiri is not waiting for a conclusion. For him it was a deliberate incident and a direct attack on a project meant for young people and sport - in other words, someone's attempt to stop the construction.

"The law enforcement authorities are investigating, and we are asking for the case to be solved as soon as possible. But let's be clear - nobody is going to stop us. The work will continue, the project will be finished and the stadium for FC Shkendija will be built. Arachinovo has waited 5 to 10 years for this day. They can burn machines, but they cannot burn the will and the desire to build," Bekjiri said.

The project includes a football pitch and a building with changing rooms for FC Shkendija from Arachinovo, worth about 34.5 million denars, or more than half a million euros, paid for by the municipality. Weather permitting, Bekjiri said, the pitch could be ready in two to three months. Local residents and the club's players turned up at the scene of the fire to show support.

If someone really set the excavator on fire to stop the construction, that is a crime, not a political message, and it should be treated as one. But if the mayor knows the motive before the police know the cause, then either he knows something he should be telling the police, or he jumped the gun. Which of the two it is, the investigation will show - if it ever gets as far as a first and last name.