A 46-year-old man is expected to be arraigned in court in the coming days on at least four cases of theft of artefacts from a number of churches in the past three years, the police said.

The investigations are being led by the Cultural Property Crime Section within the Criminal Investigation Department.

The artefacts stolen include an 1861 painting by Antonio Falzon from Ta’ Ġieżu Church in Valletta in February 2012, an antique vase from Stella Maris parish church in Sliema and a silver chalice from the Safi Church last August and a silver vase from St Paul’s Church in Valletta last February.

The value of the stolen items is estimated to run into thousands of euros.

The suspected thief was arrested yesterday mronign after a numger of works of art were seized by the police during a search on this property. The items included a number of antique silver items

The police called on people who had been victims of theft of silver items to contact the Cultural Property Crime Section on 2122 4001.

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