Destruction of Buddhist statues

Just continuing along with the idea of Buddhism and art, I'm fairly sure that most people are familiar about the destruction of the Buddhist statues in Afghanistan back in 2001.  Not going into the political/religious nature of the whole situation, I just found it rather disheartening at the time to see such a wonderful work of art and human ingenuity torn to pieces.

Honestly...something like this must be seen to actually be believed - a mere picture does it no justice.  Still, it is interesting to think about how events from way back then, during the flourishing period of the Silk Road and the role it played in spreading religious beliefs far and wide are still holding a considerable deal of influence even today in modern times.  I suppose it just goes to show that time does not matter and even the smallest of events can hold a key role in future events.

 Destruction of a statue by the Taliban in 2001