A date has been set for the trial of former city councillor William H. Walsh on charges of malicious destruction of personal property for removing two dildoes and a box from a City Hall Annex art exhibit.

Walsh, a convicted felon who was removed from office in November following his federal sentencing on 41 counts of bank fraud and conspiracy, will be tried January 31 in the Third District Court of Eastern Middlesex County.

The former councillor became embroiled in controversy in October after removing the three items from an exhibit by Hans Evers, a Cambridge resident. The exhibit was in Gallery 57, a public art gallery in the Annex building on Inman St.

Walsh admitted to removing the items, calling them "obscene." But after he delivered them to City Manager Robert W. Healy, the dildoes and the box were reinstalled by the Cambridge Arts Council, which sponsored the exhibit.

Evers sued Walsh, charging him with causing substantial damage to the exhibit by removing the items. The Curacao-born artist said the exhibit dealt with topics of sexual Identity and accused Walsh of censoring the show.

Walsh and his attorney, James J. Rafferty, have subpoenaed the three-member Arts Council jury which selected Evers to create the display. The jury includes James B. Cuno, the director of the Harvard University Art Museums; Doris Chu, president of the Boston-based Chinese Cultural Institute and Barbara Krakow, owner of the Krakow Gallery in Boston.

"We'll have a cast of Cambridge characters," Walsh said yesterday. "This case shouldn't be missed."

He insisted that the exhibit was inappropriate for a public arts space.

Veers could not be reached for comment yesterday.