The painstaking operation to remove the wreckage of the crashed Germanwings plane from the slopes of the Alps has been brought to an end.

France's military police announced on Monday – almost four weeks after the plane crashed into the Alps near the town of Digne-les-Bains – that the daily effort to remove the debris had been wrapped up.

On the afternoon of March 24th the first images were broadcast of the shocking scene of devastation on the slopes of the French Alps where a Germanwings passenger plane had crashed just hours before.

In the words of one of the first police rescuers on the scene the plane had been "pulverized" and "there was nothing much left".

Rescuers spoke of no piece of wreckage being bigger than a car. More images released later showed the debris strewn across the steep mountain slopes.

Almost immediately specialist investigators began a harrowing mission to recover the body parts of the victims, before an operation was began to clear the debris.

Images released by France's Ministry of Interior showed the site of the crash now is almost clear of debris and is unrecognizable from the scene of devastation after the crash.

All that can be seen are investigators dressed in white suits combing the ground for minute pieces of wreckage.

With all the body parts having already been removed, a team of experts have been combing the slopes to remove every piece of wreckage that is then taken away to be examined as part of the investigation into the cause of the crash.

CLICK HERE for a slide show of pictures of the site clearance