The historic stone plinth standing at a junction in Santa Liberata Street in Kalkara was unceremoniously vandalised during the festive period, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna - Malta Heritage Trust lamented.

In the process, the top part of the plinth was severely damaged with some of its over-sized capping stones dislodged and toppled over. The rest of the structure sustained similar damage.

"Not so long ago this same historic monument was subjected to some very crude ‘restoration’ interventions which has left it covered in repointing material," the NGO added.

The stone plinth dates back to the Hospitaller period and originally supported a large timber crucifix. This crucifix was removed from it during an act of bravado cby members of the Zejtun Militia to spite the occupying French enclosed in Fort San Salvatore just a few metres away during the French Blockade in 1799.

The crucifix was marched from there to Zejtun and erected on the right side of the parish church, where it remains to this day.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.