Afghanistan’s monument, given to the Maldives in memorium of the 17th SAARC Summit held in Addu City this November, was broken from its mount and sunk in the sea on Thursday, December 22.
The vandalism was done a day before protests in defense of Islam and in support of moderate Islam were carried out in Male’ and other islands.
The statue has been retrieved, however it “has been broken and it cannot be repaired,” said Addu City Councilor Hussein Hilmee.
The statue was an image of Afghistan’s Jam minaret, which features Qur’anic phrases and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Hilmee was “100% positive” that the act had been done for political reasons tied to the December 23 rallies. “MDP wouldn’t do it,” he claimed.
