Ximenes cannon

Em. C. Spiteri claims (September 13) that the gun from the time of the knights looted by Napoleon and salvaged from a French ship by the British is Maltese treasure and should be returned to Malta.

The ship Mr Spiteri is referring to is the French frigate HMS Sensible which, when en route from Malta to France with the gun, known as the Ximenes cannon, was captured by the British frigate HMS Seashore on June 27, 1798.

The contents from the French frigate were taken to England and displayed in the Tower of London, where most of the historical items were destroyed in a fire which gutted the Tower of London's storehouse in 1841.

Britain, however, has no obligation to return the Ximenes cannon to Malta. When it was seized from the French it became known as "Spoils of War".