Adds reference to vandalism on billboard in Gozo.

A vandal daubed a foot-high offensive slogan over the door to the German birthplace of Pope Benedict XVI in a protest at the paedophile priest scandal gripping the Catholic Church, police said today.

A police spokesman said the content of the three-word phrase sprayed in blue paint was "too obscene" to reveal but confirmed: "one can say it is connected" with the worldwide child sex abuse scandal.

The 30-centimetre (12-inch) high letters of the slogan, first noticed at 6:45 am, were hastily painted over. Police have appealed for witnesses.

The damage to the house, a three-storey, 264-year-old building on the market square in the picturesque village of Marktl am Inn on the Austrian border, was estimated at €1,500, police said.

The house, where the then Joseph Ratzinger was born in 1927, has become a pilgrimage site for Catholics from around the world.

Benedict has been accused of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse cases before he became pope and has not commented directly on the revelations in his home country, prompting anger among some in the Catholic community.

As a result of the scandal, membership of the Catholic Church has dropped sharply in Germany.

VANDALISM ON GOZO BILLBOARD

Meanwhile, the spate of vandalism on the billboards of the Papal visit has extended to Gozo. A billboard near Xewkija had offensive words scribbled on and a moustache was painted on the Pope's face. The scribbling has been painted over.

In Malta, some of the billboards which were vandalised over the weekend have been replaced.