It could have been the dark streets or it could have been the drink. It could have been somebody just showing off.

According to Antoine Attard, member of the Fleur-de-Lys administrative council, a Pajero driver accompanied by two girls mounted a roundabout and drove through the unfinished Fleur-de-Lys arch replica at around 1.30am on New Year’s Day.

He said engine oil could still be seen on the soil and a traffic sign was uprooted. The new monument, however, was not damaged.

The arch - also known as Wignacourt Arch - was actually a large arch and two smaller ones which once linked the aqueduct in Mrieħel and Sta Venera. It was demolished after it was damaged by a Royal Air Force crane in an accident in 1943.

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