A proposal to restore China's old Summer Palace which was torched by invading British and French forces in 1860 has sparked an intense debate, People's Daily reported Monday.

A Beijing People's Congress commission proposed restoring the ancient site to "beef up the city’s status as a national cultural hub", the paper said.

But according to an opinion poll by Sina.com, an overwhelming 77 percent of people oppose the plan, saying the relics should beleft to remember the history. While another 21 percent said China should restore the old Summer Palace to its historical glory.

Wu Zuodong, a well-known scholar in Beijing, said the capital has enough such landscape style parks and the old Summer Palace should better be preserved for its unique value.

"Keep the relics, because it is the scene of crime," said Ye Tingfang, researcher from the Foreign Literature Institute of China's Academy of Social Science.

However, Liu Yang, a member of the old Summer Palace authority, said without proper restoration, at least five spots will disappear in 10 years.

Zhang Baozhang, also from old Summer Palace authority, said restoring 10 percent of the garden is feasible. But there is no need to fully restore the old Summer Palace.

The old Summer Palace is known in China as Yuan Ming Yuan, the Garden of Gardens, famous for its extensive collection of gardens, building architecture and other works of art.

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, British and French forces conducted extensive looting and set the entire old Summer Palace ablaze. The palace was ransacked again in 1900 during the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion, and was completely ruined.