A number of people have taken to social media after images of what seems to be human bones piled in a bin during a cleansing operation in Addolorata Cemetery went viral.

“These are not things that I can tolerate. That bone belongs to your nanna, your nannu, your mother or your father, that same bone is a part of you – and it is thrown with other remains into a dustbin,” said one man who was disgusted by the morbid images.

“I condemn whoever took the decision to remove and throw away the remains of Maltese families without notifying them. Shameful,” said another.

The images of the bones went viral after a man posted them alongside his account of what happened when he went to the cemetery recently.

“This morning I went to find the remains of my grandfather because they’ve removed him and they could have at least let advised us, but I realised why they didn’t tell us, these pictures speak for themselves. They should be ashamed,” the man said.

His post, which has since been removed, elicited scores of comments from people who couldn’t believe that human bones could be discarded like that in the open.

Another man who spoke to Lovin Malta said his family realised their relatives’ body had been removed from their grave after someone else told them.

Similarly to the first man, this family said they had not been advised ahead of time.