Placards describing murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as being possessed by the devil were found next to a makeshift memorial to her, civil society organisation Occupy Justice said on Monday.

The pressure group shared photos on social media of the placards by the Great Siege Memorial in Valletta which read: “Daphne needed an exorcist” and “Daphne was possessed by the devil”.

While calling on Prime Minister Robert Abela to condemn this attack, Occupy Justice blamed what happened on what it described as “state-sanctioned hatred of a journalist” and the “constant propaganda spewed by media TV stations”.

“What would ‘possess’ someone to write something like this, and leave it there, at our protest? It's either something in the water, or a problem caused by our education system?” the NGO asked.

Occupy Justice also pointed its finger to Education Minister Owen Bonnici saying he was bound to do something on the matter, even though he is no longer responsible for the memorial.

As justice minister he had ordered that it be cleansed on a daily basis. Shortly after becoming prime minister, Robert Abela announced that the memorial would no longer be cleared.