SINGAPORE - Plants creeping along the facade of the Armenian Church that could lead to moisture damage in the 1836 building have been removed as part of ongoing maintenance works of the national monument.

It is part of the Church's efforts to upkeep the place in time for its 180th anniversary likely to be celebrated towards the end of the year.

The work, which included fixing the rusting hinges of its timber windows, was co-funded under a new component of the Preservation of Sites and Monument (PSM) division's National Monuments Fund.

It is one of 20 monuments that will be disbursed a total of $100,000 this year from the $2 million in funding dedicated to maintenance work.

The maintenance component of the fund covers works such as termite inspections; the investigation of building defects, and cracks on walls and other structures to determine the structural integrity of the monument; the removal of vegetation on monuments by specialist; and the spot repair of artefacts or features.

Ms Jean Wee, director of the PSM division, said: "Maintaining old buildings like our National Monuments is not an easy task, and requires much commitment and funds from the owners.

"We recognise this and with the enhanced NMF, we are able to help more monument owners with the rising costs of such works. This is a joint effort to ensure that our monuments will be preserved for posterity."

This year, PSM will also be disbursing more than $2 million from the restoration segment of the fund from its pool of $9.77 million.

Recipients include the upcoming $500,000 restoration of the 1846 Hajjah Fatimah mosque along Beach Road and the ongoing restoration of the Cathedral of Good Shepherd on Queen Street.