There were 21 registered cases of theft inside churches in 2018, information tabled in Parliament revealed.

Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia was responding to a question posed by PN MP Karol Aquilina.

The thefts, the answer reads, includes objects which belonged to the church, as well as property belonging to church visitors. Five of these cases were solved, he said, and the responsible persons taken before the courts.

The items stolen range from mobile phones and a tal-linja card, to paintings and donation boxes and the thefts took place in a number of different churches across the islands.