Ovni comunista bulgaro

Left to decay: A vandal has daubed ‘Forget Your Past’ in red paint across the building’s entrance

Quandry: The Bulgarian government does not have the resources to carry out the necessary extensive repair work, at an estimated cost of 30million leva (£12million)

Truly magnificent: Thieves have stripped much of the roof panelling away from the building, which opened in 1981, leaving it vulnerable to the elements

Covered in snow: The monolithic building, which opened in 1981, is now at the mercy of the elements

Left to crumble: Debris litters a stairwell (left), while a statue of a pair of hands holding torches that sits at the bottom of Mount Buzludzha has been graffitied (right)

Thieves have stripped much of the roof panelling away from the building, which opened in 1981, leaving it vulnerable to the elements.

A wall mosaic of Bulgaria’s communist dictator Todor Zhivkov has been destroyed, while others of communist heroes Marx, Engels and Lenin remain just about recognisable.

In a sign that many of the local population have no interest in such buildings, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov transfered ownership of the structure to the BSP Socialist party in November.

He said: ‘Let them take care of it if they’re so proud of it.’

The BSP Socialists have managed to secure the entrances to prevent would-be trespassers from entering.

Passing the buck: Prime Minister Boyko Borisov transfered ownership of the structure to the BSP Socialist party in November

Strewn with litter and ransacked by thieves, warmer weather shows the dome’s interior to be in urgent need of repair

Lockdown: The BSP Socialists have now managed to secure the entrances to prevent would-be trespassers from entering

Glorious colours: The communist party’s emblem still adorns the ceiling

Falling apart: Many in Bulgaria want the building, and other communist structures like it, to be restored to its former glory