We all remember the Taliban blowing up two ancient Bhuddist statues in Afghanistan and the world-wide protests that followed.

The same now appears to be happening with two Scout leaders in the US, who set an example to boy scouts all over the world by destroying ancient rock features in a National Park in Utah.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10390480/US-scout-leaders-get-death-threats-for-toppling-rock.html

Two US scout leaders say they have received death threats after a video of them toppling an age-old rock formation in the western state of Utah went viral online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHgpiMp1JqA

Don't read too much into it. There are stupid people in every country. The fact that they are Scout leaders means that they should have known better, and from the article I understand that both the government (as represented by the park rangers) as well as the Boy Scouts organisation have condemned the action.

This is VERY different from a government destroying Buddha images because they feel it is against their religion.

Forget overweight Scout "leaders" and their pathetic behaviour, what does count as real cultural vandalism would be the crass and destructive building of a US base within the ruins of Babylon following the 2003 invasion. In many ways a sad metaphor for the 2003 invasion (unclear objectives, poor understanding of actions, belated recognition and attempts at redress, bitter legacy, Iraqi in-fighting etc):

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/arts/03babylon.html?_r=0

Or you could look at the wanton destruction of Penn Station NYC in 1963, or more historically the destruction of the Abbey of Monte Cassino in 1944 or Wurzburg by the RAF in 1945.

A more humorous incident was the near destruction in 1944 of a key element of Normandy's cultural tradiition. Advancing US forces reported a possible chemical weapons site in a complex of buildings due to the strong gas-like smell detected there. There was a serious concern that the Germans might deploy chemical weapons to crush the invasion so a full scale air/artillery strike was organized. A British liaison officer, intrigued by the reports went forward to investigate and luckily managed to get the fire mission cancelled as the target was in fact a massive warehouse full of very ripe Camembert!!

Sadly all wars see a litany of acts of cultural vandalism as either due to spite or ignorance priceless artifacts or buildings are wantonly destroyed or looted.

During wartime it may be that a tactical or strategic advantage could be gained by, for instance, the bombing of Coventry, the bombing of London'd Docklands, the bombing of Liverpool docks, the bombing of Hamburg.

But the destruction of the Bhuddist statues at Bamiyan was not a wartime act, neither did it give any advantage. It was, as the eighth century destruction of the faces of statues across N. Africa, fom the Sphinx downwards, a religious vandalism. As was the recent act of the two idiot scout leaders. The first group were in the name of Islam, the latter in the name of health and safety - the latest in a long line of crank religions.

During wartime it may be that a tactical or strategic advantage could be gained by, for instance, the bombing of Coventry, the bombing of London'd Docklands, the bombing of Liverpool docks, the bombing of Hamburg.

But the destruction of the Bhuddist statues at Bamiyan was not a wartime act, neither did it give any advantage. It was, as the eighth century destruction of the faces of statues across N. Africa, fom the Sphinx downwards, a religious vandalism. As was the recent act of the two idiot scout leaders. The first group were in the name of Islam, the latter in the name of health and safety - the latest in a long line of crank religions.

Sadly you can probably find examples of egregious cultural vandalism being committed by all major religious groups, cranky or otherwise!

The Reconquista in Spain 771-1492 saw the wholesale destruction of mosques and other Islamic cultural artifacts.

Christian zealots/missionaries/conquistadors destroyed vast quantities of "pagan/idolatrous" cultural items throughout Latin America, Africa and the Pacific Islands.

1992 saw the destruction of the Babri Mosque in India by Hindu crowds.

The Balkans wars in the 1990's saw wholesale destruction of cultural heritage by Orthodox, Christians and Muslims alike.

Buddhist extremists are involved in violent acts against minortiy groups of Christiand and Muslims in Sri Lanka and Burma.

And so on....Humans can be pretty unpleasant when they put their minds to it.

And not forgetting the crimes against cultural legacy committed by urban planners and developers across the UK in the 1960's and 1970's. Near you Peterborough is a classic example of this.

I make it a point never to drive through Peterborough.