A passer-by noticed that the statue seemed to be crying late on Tuesday night.

The suspected miracle was reported on the evening news and sparked mass interest in the statue of Padre Pio who will be made a saint by the Pope in June.

Though claims of weeping statues are not unusual in Italy, the popularity of Padre Pio has made this a special case.

More than 2,000 people rushed to the statue overnight in the square in front of the Church of Madonna of Pompeii.

Stigmata

Police have taken a sample of the liquid coming from the two-metre (seven-foot) bronze statue for analysis.

He was considered the first priest in centuries to show the stigmata - the wounds to hands, feet and side suffered by Jesus at his crucifixion.

He has an enormous following and the monastery where he died in 1968 at the age of 81 attracts seven million visitors a year - similar to the numbers who go to France's Lourdes shrine.