An Italian court on Monday blocked a police inspector's bid to have a statue of the Virgin Mary removed from a Sicilian town hall.
Upholding an earlier ruling, the court in Catania said the presence of the madonna did not flout Italy's Constitutional separation of Church and State.
The police inspector, Pietro Galvagno, said he would appeal the verdict to Italy's highest court.
His lawyer argued that ''a religious statue on display in the town hall is an...unequivocal expression, on the part of the Council, of belonging to the Roman Catholic Church''.
The council in the small town of Paterno' countered that the statue ''does not clash with the secular nature of the State because it is not a collective declaration of belonging to a given religion''.
Galvagno's campaign against the madonna echoes a highly publicised stand by an Italian judge who has been suspended twice without pay because he refuses to work with a crucifix in his courtroom.
Italy's formal ban on religious symbols in state-run offices like schools and courts is in practice usually waived by tacit consent.
Some isolated campaigners for Muslim rights have tried to get crosses removed from classrooms while some liberal teachers have sought to make Christmas shows more 'inclusive' of other religions.
These efforts have aroused protests from many Catholics.
