The Weight of Thought, Vandalism at Maldives Museum Stirs Fears of Extremism-Nearly 30 Buddhist statues at the Maldives National Museum were destroyed by vandals - Officials say the attack was motivated by religious extremism. “The collection was totally, totally smashed. The whole pre-Islamic history is gone.”

Vandalism at Maldives Museum Stirs Fears of Extremism-Nearly 30 Buddhist statues at the Maldives National Museum were destroyed by vandals - Officials say the attack was motivated by religious extremism. “The collection was totally, totally smashed. The whole pre-Islamic history is gone.” »

MALE, Maldives — The broken glass from an attack by vandals on the National Museum here has been swept away, and the remnants of the Buddhist statues they destroyed — nearly 30 of them, some dating to the sixth century — have been locked away. But officials say the loss to this island nation’s archaeological legacy can never be recouped.

In the midst of the political turmoil racking this tiny Indian Ocean nation of 1,200 islands, a half-dozen men stormed into the museum last Tuesday and ransacked a collection of coral and lime figures, including a six-faced coral statue and a 1 1/2-foot-wide representation of the Buddha’s head. Officials said the men attacked the figures because they believed they were idols and therefore illegal under Islamic and national laws.

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