Frank Portelli insisted there were never any organs or other human remains stored at St Philip's hospital, and blamed vandals harbouring "political vindictiveness" for the shocking state of the abandoned building.

"We never had human remains. There were never any organs. The building was secure and there was forced entry. Doors were broken and lockers were forcefully opened," the hospital owner told Times of Malta.

"There were repeated attacks of vandalism and they even removed stone slabs. There was even arson. This is vandalism and political vindictiveness. That's the state of our country."

Portelli was reacting to shocking footage that emerged online, showing vandalised rooms, torched operating theatres, shattered medical equipment, thousands of medical records and what appear to be human remains lying around in the private hospital in Santa Venera.

The footage shows the Youtuber walking effortlessly through the damaged front door and touring the eerie hospital which shut down 10 years ago.

At one point, the cameraman stumbles on what he claims to be human remains and walks over and around broken furniture and medical equipment, shattered glass, scattered papers and syringes, flips through files that still contain patients' medical documents.

"This is all criminal activity. The police are involved and there is an ongoing magisterial inquiry," Portelli said, adding that people who have a vested interest in harming him are behind the acts of vandalism.

"We are fighting against criminals. We took all reasonable precautions and we now await the results of the inquiry."

St Philip's served as a 100-bed private hospital between 1995 and 2012, when it shut down after running into serious financial trouble.

The government had initially sought to acquire it but that deal fell through and the building was closed down. But in recent months, several individuals broke into the building, causing damage in the process.

Last December, parts of the hospital were allegedly set on fire and police arrested nine youths who were caught starting the fires in some of the rooms.

Portelli insists the hospital is still much needed, but it has become a political football.

"During the COVID crisis we offered it to the government, but politics reared its head and the government was considering buying a pre-fabricated hospital at twice the price rather than lease St Philip's as per agreement," he said.

"Even now we do not have an isolation hospital."