Parts of a jellyfish net installed in Pretty Bay, Birżebbuġa last month, in an experimental project that spans five countries have been stolen and are being replaced, coordinator Alan Deidun said.

In a post on Facebook, he hoped such despicable thefts of public property would not be repeated.

He also called on people not to lean on the net.

The net, the first of its kind in Malta, covers an area of 625 square metres with each side measuring 25 metres and reaching a depth 2.5 metres.

It was installed by the university’s Physical Oceanography Unit in conjunction with the five-nation Med-Jellyrisk Project.