Nationalist Party MP Karol Aquilina this morning claimed that the people who removed the flowers and candles from the makeshift memorial for Daphne Caruana Galizia in front of the law courts are ‘persons who are closely tied to the Office of the Prime Minister’.

In a post on Facebook, Aquilina wrote “I can confirm that the persons involved in the theft of candles, flowers and other objects from the Great Siege Monument are persons who are very closely tied to the Office of the Prime minister.”

“The police know exactly who these persons are,” he concluded.

Yesterday, it was reported that Aquilina asked the Police Commissioner to investigate the theft after they were again removed from the memorial during the night between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Candles, flowers and photos placed at the foot of the Great Siege Monument have been removed a number of times, and were later replaced.