The stunning graffiti mural in Sliema depicting a man scrambling into a hole in the wall of a building has emerged as an asylum seeker in the south of Italy.

Painted by an artist who goes by the name MTO, the top part of a bearded grey man emerged on a building in the town of Sapri in Campania.

It is the continuation of the four-storey high mural adjacent to the Regina car park in Sliema that has been turning heads.

It is meant to portray the struggle of migrants who leave southern shores and head to northern Europe in search of a better life.

On his Facebook page, MTO captions the picture, called The Mediterranean Door: ‘Malta takes the dead and sends the living to Italy’.

The mural was created for the Sliema Arts Festival. The Sliema council said the graffiti will remain in place until next year and appealed to owners of buildings to offer their walls to host such artworks.