This is an exceedingly sad story.
Vandals armed with power saws have stolen at least four ancient rock carvings, apparently going to great lengths to slice them out of a valuable archeological site in California.
Vandals armed with power saws have stolen at least four ancient rock carvings, apparently going to great lengths to slice them out of a valuable archeological site in California.
The petroglyphs, etched by ancient hunters 3,500 years ago, had survived winds, floods and earthquakes, only to disappear from the rock face in a matter of hours, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Called the “worst act of vandalism ever seen,” someone “smashed and grabbed” these ancient artifacts. However, they not only stole from the site:
A fifth carving suffered deep saw cuts, and a sixth was removed but broken and abandoned near a parking lot in the Eastern Sierra desert. Dozens of others were scarred by hammer blows.
Plus, the thieves needed equipment, lots of it, to get the job done.
The stolen slabs of rock were two feet square, and were up to 15 feet off the ground, requiring ladders and electrical generators for the power saws.
This act raises some interesting questions such as how do we protect sites like this… sites that cover thousands of acres… just as budgets for such activity are getting slashed.
Archeologist David Whitley, who helped the site gain a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, said the theft exposed the vulnerability of such treasures and the difficulty of managing them.
“Do we keep them secret in hopes that no one vandalizes them? Or, do we open them to the public?” he asked.
