The official Facebook page to help in the global search for missing Madeleine McCann was shut down on Suinday night following "hateful" messages posted by online trolls.

In a post, the webmaster of the "Official Find Madeleine Campaign" page said they needed to "take a break" and "clear" their head.

They wrote: "The trolls and the media encouraging them with false stories are taking a toll on my mental health. Be back in a few days."

The Facebook page, endorsed by Kate and Gerry McCann, has almost 600,000 'likes' and is followed by over 560,000 people.

The page went back online on Monday afternoon.

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However, the webmaster warned that the page will keep being unpublished if trolls continue to post hateful messages.

Glasgow Times:

They wrote: "I have turned the page back on for now, but will continue to turn the page off if we receive hateful posts. I need to do this for my own mental health.

"I would also like to set the record straight on how this page is managed. In late 2007, I urged Gerry and Kate to have a page setup on Facebook. I setup this page and have run it ever since.

"The only posts that Gerry and Kate see are the ones I send to them. They do not use social media.

"When I do post on their behalf, I ALWAYS sign their name(s) to the post. If a post is from me, I sign my title. I do not bother Gerry and Kate with the day-to-day operations of this page. I do not coordinate with them posts or get approval.

"They trust me to run this page, our Web site and other social media accounts. If a post has my title on it, it's my words, thoughts or feelings. No one else's."

The post finished with: "Thank you for keeping the page positive and hopeful," and was signed, FM Webmaster.

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The Facebook page was created in 2007 - the same year Madeleine disappeared from the McCann's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Glasgow Times:

Madeleine would now be almost 14-years-old.