A tourist has been seized by police after smashing two priceless ancient Roman sculptures at an Israeli museum.
The US national reportedly took a huge cleft stick to the statues at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
The unnamed man, said to be in his 40s, reportedly carried out the attack on 5th October because the statues were an insult to the Torah, the Hebrew holy bible.
Both sculptures depicted ancient Greek and Roman gods.
The images show one of a griffin holding the wheel of fate of the Roman god of vengeance Nemesis, dated 210-211 AD that was apparently smashed to pieces.
An earlier statue, a head of the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena, from 2 AD, was also seen toppled on the museum floor.
Eli Escusido, head of Israel Antiquities Authority, said: “One statue is a marble depiction of the goddess Athena that was found in excavations at Beit She’an in the 1960s. The second was of the mythological creature Griffin, who was the symbol of divinity in the Roman pagan era and found in the Negev.”
He added: “This is a shocking case of destruction of cultural heritage. We view with great concern the fact that religious extremists take such action.”
The police told local media that the suspect said he had attacked the sculptures “due to his belief that the statues contradict the Torah”.
The museum said in a statement: “We condemn all forms of violence and hope such events do not happen again.”
The shattered statues have been transferred to the museum’s conservation lab for an attempt at restoration.
The police investigation is ongoing and the American tourist remains in custody.
