National Museum vandalism case forwarded to PG

Around 35 exhibits — mostly images and carvings of Buddha  — were destroyed when half a dozen men stormed into the museum amid the political chaos of February 7, and ransacked a collection of coral and lime figures. They included a 1.5-foot-wide representation of the Buddha’s head – one of the most historically significant pieces at the museum.

The vandals destroyed “99 percent” of the Maldives’ pre-Islamic artifacts from before the 12th century – most of them beyond repair – according to the museum director Ali Waheed.

An official at the museum told Minivan News following the incident that the group “deliberately targeted the Buddhist relics and ruins of monasteries exhibited in the pre-Islamic collection, destroying most items beyond repair.”