The Defenders of the Cross, a group that staged a round-the-clock protest last year to prevent a spontaneous memorial from being removed from in front of the Presidential Palace, has revealed plans for a major demonstration to tie in with the first anniversary of the Smolensk plane crash.

The group divided the nation with its intractable stance last year. The cross in question – set up by a group of scouts – was forcibly removed on 16 September, not long after dawn.

About one hundred members of the group gathered on Thursday outside the Presidential Palace to mark 11 months since the Smolensk air crash that killed 96 people, the vast majority of whom were top level dignitaries.

However, the group says that a vast protest is planned for next month's anniversary, during which a horde of protesters will camp outside the palace for as long as they can hold out.

“It will be a normal campsite,” a protester revealed to Polish Radio. The defender remarked that a new cross may also be erected. “I cannot betray the secret,” said the protester, but added that something may indeed be coming from the southern mountain resort of Zakopane.

Besides setting up tents outside the palace, the Defenders of the Cross will be holding a protest the previous day outside the Russian embassy, calling for the return of the wreckage, the black boxes and other key items which have yet to be returned to Poland following the crash.

“Then, those that have tents and sleeping bags will stay here,” said the defender on Thursday before the gates of the Presidential Palace. (nh/jb)