Deputy Mayor of Sanya Xu Zhenling has urged efforts to protect a historic hot spring which has become polluted from use due to poor management, Xinhuanet.com reported on Monday.

Jijiting hot spring, which was put under the city's heritage protection plan in 2005, has a history of nearly 500 years in Sanya, Hainan province. However, media reported last week that the hot spring was being used by some locals to take baths and wash clothes, and the water has been tainted by sewage and garbage.

Locals living nearby also said that water levels have lowered over the years, suggesting the possibility that people have been extracting water from the hot spring.

The Jijiting hot spring dates back to between 1506 and 1552. It is regarded as the very first hot spring to be discovered and developed in Hainan Island, according to written records.