507 AD & 554 AD - Dynamited in March 2001 - Buddhas of Bamiyan, Bamyan Valley, Hazarajat Region (Afghanistan). 230 km (140 mi) northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters (8,202 ft). Monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff. Represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art. Dynamited & destroyed in March 2001 by the Taliban, on orders from leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, after the Taliban government declared that they were "idols." International opinion strongly condemned the destruction of the Buddhas, which was viewed as an example of the intolerance of the Taliban. Japan & Switzerland, among others, have pledged support for the rebuilding of the statues."

1919 - Burned on New Years Eve 1922 - First Goetheanum, Dornach, Solothurn (Switzerland). Near Basel. A timber & concrete structure designed by Rudolf Steiner [1861-1925]. Intended as a Gesamtkunstwerk (the synthesis of diverse artistic media & sensory effects) & infused with spiritual significance. Built to house the annual summer theater events of the Anthroposophical Society, it became the center of a small colony of spiritual seekers. Architects created the unusual double-dome wooden structure over a curving concrete base, stained glass windows added color into the space, painters decorated the ceiling with motifs depicting the whole of human evolution, & sculptors carved huge column bases, capitals, and architraves with images of metamorphoses. Already during the construction, musicians, actors & movement artists began performing a wide variety of pieces in a neighboring workshop. Destroyed by arson on New Year's Eve, December 31, 1922–January 1, 1923." /// Lower image is "The Representative of Humanity," a 9-meter high wood sculpture executed by Rudolf Steiner in 1922 as a joint project with sculptor Edith Maryon [1872-1924] & "now on permanent display at the Goetheanum."

September 4, 1938 - Destroyed on May 30, 1942 - Monument à la gloire des Américains / Monument to the Glory of the Americans, Point-de-Grave, Le Verdon, Mouth of Gironde River (France). Near Bordeaux. Expressed gratitude for US help during World War I. 75 meters tall (vs. 45.5 meters for the Statue of Liberty). Cornerstone laid September 6, 1919, by French President Raymond Poincaré [1860-1934]. Dedication (lower left image) attended by John F. Kennedy [1917-1963] representing his father, the US Ambassador in London. Lower right image shows a stele (plaque) about 10 meters high which was erected in 1947 to mark the spot. Its inscription reads: "Ici s'élevait le monument érigé à la gloire des Américains - Aux soldats du général Pershing défenseurs du même idéal de droit et de liberté qui conduisit en Amérique La Fayette et ses volontaires partis de ce rivage en 1777 - Le monument symbolisait la fraternité d'armes et l'amitié franco-américaine - Il fut détruit le 30 mai 1942 par les troupes d'occupation allemandes - Il sera réédifié par le peuple français - They have destroyed it, we shall restore it."

1929 - Destroyed during WW-II - Peace Lighthouse, summit of Mount Lycabettus, Athens (Greece). "In honor of the meeting in Athens, Greece, of the [27th] Congress of Universal Peace... The dedication took place after the arrival of the members... At eight P.M. 600 Boy Scouts, carrying Venetian lanterns, started marching through the city and up to the summit of the mountain, where they lighted the Peace Lighthouse, which shone like an enormous star thoughout the sessions of the Congress. It was to be re-lighted each time the League of Nations was in session. [But] this monument was destroyed by the Germans when they moved into Greece in World War II." 1 of 40 monuments in "Peace Symbols" by Zonia Baber (1948), pp. 40-41. Left image scanned from Baber. All information from Baber. NB: Baber dates this monument from 1930, but the conference took place October 6-10, 1929.

M U S E U M

1930 - Burned in 1946 - IJzertoren Museum of War, Peace & Flemish Emancipation, IJzerdijk 49, Diksmuide / Dixmude, Flanders (Belgium). IJzertoren / Yser Tower is is named after the Yser River which formed the frontline during most of World War I. The 84-meter tower was illegally demolished the night of March 15-16, 1946 (but rebuilt). Perpetrators were never caught but were thought to involve Belgian military & former resistance fighters in an atmosphere of post WW-II repression. 1 of 40 monuments in "Peace Symbols" by Zonia Baber (1948), pp. 38-39. Site of 4th International Conference of the International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP). Images show the rebuilt tower. Right image is brochure for the INMP conference in 2003.

2004 - MENDHAM — A first-of-its-kind monument, dedicated to victims of clergy sexual abuse in 2004 and smashed by a sledgehammer-wielding vandal last year, will be replaced by a new memorial, which will be unveiled at noon Saturday at St. Joseph Church in Mendham. Donors — many of whom purchased the original monument — have covered the $8,000 cost of the replacement, said Monsignor Kenneth Lasch, who will preside over the ceremony for victims and their families. "It was important that we replace the monument," Lasch said as workers prepared the site Wednesday. "We can never forget what happened. Abuse is life-changing. This reverent reminder helps the healing." The 400-pound millstone memorial, identical to the original, will be placed next to the church, 150 feet from the former office of Rev. James Hanley, a priest who admitted to abusing more than a dozen children during a 24-year career.Hanley was expelled from the priesthood in 2003, but no criminal charges were filed because the statute of limitations had expired. The stone will be flanked by two bronze plaques. One will contain a passage from the gospel according to Matthew in which Jesus says whoever harms a child would be better off "to have a millstone hung around his neck and (be) thrown into the depths of the sea." Inspiration for the monument came from the death of James Kelly, a 37-year-old Hanley victim who committed suicide by standing in front of a New Jersey Transit train in Morristown in 2003. The reason for the suicide remains unclear. Police said Gordon Ellis, a 38-year-old Mendham man with no connection to the church or the victims, was probably drunk when he destroyed the monument in November. He was charged with criminal mischief, desecrating a monument and a weapons charge, police said. Ellis was released on bail in December, and the case is still pending.

October 20, 2006 - Fell down on December 29, 2006 - "Spaceship Earth," Kennesaw State University, Georgia (USA). "A 175-ton quartzite & bronze sculpture made by a Finnish-born artist Eino. Questions abound over whether vandals destroyed the sculpture, or whether a combination of substandard adhesive & rain caused it to crumble in the middle of the night on December 29, 2006, in a collapse the campus police said they felt from their offices around the corner. Just three months old, the $1 million globe, made of 88 chunks of Brazilian quartzite adorned with raised bronze signifying land masses, lies disintegrated [right image] outside a new academic building praised for its eco-friendly attributes. A bronze statue of David Brower [1912-2000], a conservationist who was the first executive director of the Sierra Club, had stood atop the 15-foot globe and is now partly crushed. A steel time capsule intended to be opened in 3006 is exposed amid the rubble."

2008 - Demolished in April 2011 - Monument to Humanity, Kars (Turkey). "For Naif Alibeyoglu, the former mayor of Kars whose idea it was, supposed to represent the victory of peace over enmity, its flood-lighting visible from neighbouring Armenia, 40 kilometres away. In Kars, opposition was led by Oktay Aktas, local head of the Nationalist Action Party, or MHP. “Why is one figure standing with its head bowed, as if ashamed," Aktas asks. Today, it stands unfinished. Its three-metre high hand, supposed to join the two figures, was never attached. It lies fingers up in the gravel in front. /// Reuters 12Jan 11: " The row centres on the prime minister's right to demand the removal of an artwork on aesthetic grounds. His comments come at a time when rapprochement between Muslim Turkey and Christian Armenia is at a standstill. Erdogan's comments have been seized on by Turkish nationalists who condemn the monument's message of understanding. A bid to normalise ties between neighbouring Turkey and Armenia suffered a blow last April when Yerevan froze ratification of a US-brokered peace accord. /// Armenian Weekly, March 11, 2011: "The demolition began on April 26 while Armenians worldwide commemorated the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In the presence of riot police, the heads of the statues were dismounted & trucked away. Thus, a conciliatory symbol has itself become a target of intolerance - a fate sculptor Mehmet Aksoy has likened to the destruction of Buddhist relics by the Taliban.""