[3] Since October 2017, the monument has been used as a makeshift memorial to journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia by members of her family and anti-government protesters.

[12] In 2020, a court decision found that the then Minister for Justice Owen Bonnici's orders to repeatedly clear the memorial were a violation of protestors' human rights for the freedom of expression.

[13] The Great Siege Monument is considered to be a work of Neoclassical sculpture,[3] exhibiting powerful simple lines which hint at Sciortino's avant-garde style.

[5][3] The positioning of the figures relates closely to Davide Calandra's relief La Glorificazione della Dinastia Sabauda at the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome.

[5] The male figure in the centre is described as Fortitude[3] or Valour,[14] and he is portrayed bare-chested and wearing a three-pointed crown and some armour, while holding a sword and a shield.