Dozens of candles and posters were set on the stairs of a church in Vittoriosa as part of a vigil held for a seven-year-old girl whose foster parents say was abducted by her birth mother more than a month ago,

“We feel lost,” the foster parents said during the vigil.

“I just wish her birth mother thought things through before deciding to do this,” the foster father told Lovin Malta.

“If I could speak to her birth mother, I’d ask her to call and just tell us that our daughter is safe and sound. Please take care of her like we did for six years,” her foster mother added.

The girl was taken away on 9 October. Despite being under a care order, the mother and daughter left Malta. Europol have traced the child to a European country but her exact location is still unknown

Under the conditions of the care order, the birth mother was able to visit the young girl every weekend. Since the abduction, the family has been in contact with authorities, but there hasn’t been much progress on the case.

On Monday, the Malta Children’s Associations Network made up of 16 NGOs — organised a vigil.

Candles were placed outside the San Lawrenz Church in Vittoriosa as a symbol of awareness. The NGOs urged the public to support the authorities to persevere in their efforts to find the girl, provide support to the family so they do not lose hope, and send out a message that if any child is abducted everyone will join forces to find them.

That Friday, October 9, her mother went for her as she always did. The foster mother spoke with the girl over the phone on Friday evening. But the following day she could not get through to her. When the situation continued until Sunday, she raised the alarm, Times of Malta reports. 

The foster mother contacted social services who alerted the police. It later emerged that the girl was taken out of the country illegally.