TBILISI - Georgia secretly tore down the historic bronze statue of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet dictator`s home town of Gori overnight, officials said Friday.

"Stalin`s monument in Gori was dismantled overnight," Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria told AFP, adding that the government would provide full details of its decision at a news conference later Friday.

The six-metre (20-foot) statue has stood in the central square of Gori since the early 1950s and has generated controversy in recent years as the pro-Western government of President Mikheil Saakashvili repeatedly hinted it would be removed.

Many local residents however remain fiercely proud of Stalin and have opposed plans to remove the monument from the square, which was famously bombed during Georgia`s 2008 war with Russia.

BDST:1416 HRS, June 25 2010
DC