Updated | Daphne Caruana Galizia photo returned to Valletta memorial

Updated 6pm

A photo of Daphne Caruana Galizia has returned at the foot of the Great Siege monument in Valletta on Tuesday afternoon.

Photos of the murdered journalist, former prime minister Dom Mintoff and murder victims Karin Grech and Raymond Caruana were removed by an unknown individual on Monday night.

The monument in front of the law courts has turned into a makeshift memorial since Caruana Galizia's brutal murder on 16 October last year. However, last week, photographs of fMintoff, Caruana and Grech appeared overnight along that of Caruana Galizia after the Valletta council turned down a motion by a Labour councillor to clean up the monument and remove the memorial.

On Monday night, the photographs were replaced by a number of messages exhalting Grech and Mintoff.

“Dear Karen, you were killed cause your father was saving people’s lives. You are our hero!” read one message placed at the foot of the monument.

Another read: “Dom Mintoff, we thank you for your love towards our country Malta and Gozo. We never forget you”.

Flowers surrounding the memorial also appear to have been trampled on by whoever removed the photos.

The development comes days after authorities took down three billboards commissioned by the activist group Occupy Justice, calling for justice for Caruana Galizia.