diff --git a/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAO.java b/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAO.java
index 3bb80ce8958617aee29d91233589c1678d2818ae..8ad7770a1d529b3cd254aabefa6921f8030616bd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAO.java
+++ b/src/main/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAO.java
@@ -146,6 +146,16 @@ public class NodeDAO {
         return select;
     }
 
+    private String getAllLevelsChildrenSelector(String path) {
+        String select = "(SELECT path FROM node WHERE node_id = (SELECT node_id FROM node_vos_path WHERE vos_path = ?))::varchar || '";
+
+        if (!"/".equals(path)) {
+            select += ".";
+        }
+        select += "*{1,}'";
+        return select;
+    }
+
     private Node getNodeFromResultSet(ResultSet rs) throws SQLException {
 
         Node node = getTypedNode(rs.getString("type"));
@@ -190,6 +200,57 @@ public class NodeDAO {
         node.setProperties(properties);
         return node;
     }
+    
+    public void deleteNode(String path) {
+        int nodesWithPath = countNodesWithPath(path);
+        if (nodesWithPath == 0) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Node at path "
+                    + path + " not found");
+        }
+
+        if (nodesWithPath > 1) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Multiple nodes at path " + path);
+        }
+
+        String insertSql = "INSERT INTO deleted_node "
+                + "(node_id, parent_path, parent_relative_path, "
+                + "name, os_name, tstamp_wrapper_dir, type, location_id, format, "
+                + "async_trans, busy_state, owner_id, creator_id, group_read, "
+                + "group_write, is_public, delta, content_type, content_encoding, "
+                + "content_length, content_md5, created_on, last_modified, "
+                + "accept_views, provide_views, protocols)\n";                
+        
+        String deleteSql = "DELETE \n"
+                + "FROM node n\n"
+                + "USING node_vos_path os\n"
+                + "WHERE n.node_id = os.node_id AND\n"
+                + "(n.path ~ (" + getAllLevelsChildrenSelector(path) + ")::lquery\n"
+                + "OR os.vos_path = ?) RETURNING\n"
+                + "n.node_id, parent_path, parent_relative_path, "
+                + "name, os_name, tstamp_wrapper_dir, type, location_id, format, "
+                + "async_trans, busy_state, owner_id, creator_id, group_read, "
+                + "group_write, is_public, delta, content_type, content_encoding, "
+                + "content_length, content_md5, created_on, last_modified, "
+                + "accept_views, provide_views, protocols\n"; 
+        
+        String withSql = "WITH del AS ("+deleteSql+")";
+        
+        String sql = withSql+insertSql+"SELECT * FROM del\n";
+        
+        jdbcTemplate.update(sql, path, path);                
+    }
+
+    // utility method for deleteNode
+    public int countNodesWithPath(String path) {
+        String sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) from "
+                + "node_vos_path p "
+                + "where p.vos_path = ?";
+
+        Object[] args = {path};
+        int[] types = {Types.VARCHAR};
+
+        return jdbcTemplate.queryForObject(sql, args, types, Integer.class);
+    }
 
     private String getPropertyURI(String propertyName) {
         return "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#".concat(propertyName);
diff --git a/src/test/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAOTest.java b/src/test/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAOTest.java
index ee7bbe23edb92f3c538f71bc6e85279d728b63c0..bb41fc74b0b24fe7ae57e49fc2c0fa2e67bc9ba1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAOTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/it/inaf/oats/vospace/persistence/NodeDAOTest.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import net.ivoa.xml.vospace.v2.Node;
 import net.ivoa.xml.vospace.v2.Property;
 import net.ivoa.xml.vospace.v2.View;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
@@ -56,6 +57,35 @@ public class NodeDAOTest {
         assertEquals("group1 group2", getProperty(root.getNodes().get(0), "ivo://ivoa.net/vospace/core#groupread"));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testCountNodeWithPath() {
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/"));
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1"), "Test db has been changed");
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1/f1"), "Test db has been changed");
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1/f1/f2_renamed"), "Test db has been changed");
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1/f1/f2_renamed/f3"), "Test db has been changed");
+
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test2"), "Test db has been changed");
+
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test2/f4"), "Test db has been changed");
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test2/f5"), "Test db has been changed");
+
+        assertEquals(0, dao.countNodesWithPath("/pippooo"), "Test db has been changed");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testDeleteNode() {
+
+        assertEquals(1, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1/f1/f2_renamed/f3"), "Test db has been changed");
+        dao.deleteNode("/test1");
+
+        assertEquals(0, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1"));
+        assertEquals(0, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1/f1"));
+        assertEquals(0, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1/f1/f2_renamed"));
+        assertEquals(0, dao.countNodesWithPath("/test1/f1/f2_renamed/f3"));
+
+    }
+
     private String getProperty(Node node, String uri) {
         for (Property property : node.getProperties()) {
             if (uri.equals(property.getUri())) {
diff --git a/src/test/resources/test-data.sql b/src/test/resources/test-data.sql
index 67aa878e0f8597cc445c87f9eb1fe332ad47ae54..37ca24465cf434ff9ae2e60e81c4c676dc594dff 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/test-data.sql
+++ b/src/test/resources/test-data.sql
@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 DELETE FROM node;
 ALTER SEQUENCE node_node_id_seq RESTART WITH 1;
 
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id) VALUES (NULL, NULL, '', 'container', '0', '0');
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, location_id) VALUES (NULL, NULL, '', 'container', '0', '0', 1);
 
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, group_read, group_write) VALUES ('', NULL, 'test1', 'container', 'user1', 'user1', '{"group1","group2"}','{"group2"}');      -- /test1
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id) VALUES ('2', '', 'f1', 'container', 'user1', 'user1');      -- /test1/f1 (rel: /f1)
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, os_name, type, owner_id, creator_id) VALUES ('2.3', '3', 'f2_renamed', 'f2', 'container', 'user1', 'user1');      -- /test1/f1/f2_renamed (rel: /f1/f2)
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id) VALUES ('2.3.4', '3.4', 'f3', 'data', 'user1', 'user1');      -- /test1/f1/f2_renamed/f3 (rel: /f1/f2/f3)
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, group_read, group_write, location_id) VALUES ('', NULL, 'test1', 'container', 'user1', 'user1', '{"group1","group2"}','{"group2"}', 1);      -- /test1
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, location_id) VALUES ('2', '', 'f1', 'container', 'user1', 'user1', 1);      -- /test1/f1 (rel: /f1)
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, os_name, type, owner_id, creator_id, location_id) VALUES ('2.3', '3', 'f2_renamed', 'f2', 'container', 'user1', 'user1', 1);      -- /test1/f1/f2_renamed (rel: /f1/f2)
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, location_id) VALUES ('2.3.4', '3.4', 'f3', 'data', 'user1', 'user1', 1);      -- /test1/f1/f2_renamed/f3 (rel: /f1/f2/f3)
 
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, is_public) VALUES ('', NULL, 'test2', 'container', 'user2', 'user2', true);      -- /test2
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, is_public) VALUES ('5', '', 'f4', 'container', 'user2', 'user2', true);    -- /test2/f4 (rel: /f4)
-INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, is_public) VALUES ('5', '', 'f5', 'container', 'user2', 'user2', true);    -- /test2/f5 (rel: /f5)
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, is_public, location_id) VALUES ('', NULL, 'test2', 'container', 'user2', 'user2', true, 1);      -- /test2
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, is_public, location_id) VALUES ('6', '', 'f4', 'container', 'user2', 'user2', true, 1);    -- /test2/f4 (rel: /f4)
+INSERT INTO node (parent_path, parent_relative_path, name, type, owner_id, creator_id, is_public, location_id) VALUES ('6', '', 'f5', 'container', 'user2', 'user2', true, 1);    -- /test2/f5 (rel: /f5)
 
 DELETE FROM job;