An American tourist has been arrested for allegedly smashing 2nd Century sculptures at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
The 40-year-old man is said to have hurled two Roman pieces of art to the floor because he said they were “idolatrous and contrary the Torah”, Judaism’s most important text.
Images shared by Israeli police show the statues lying broken having been toppled in the museum.
Nick Kaufman, a lawyer for the Jewish American who was detained at the scene, denied his client acted out of religious fanaticism.
Mr Kaufman said his client was suffering from a mental disorder.
A sculpture of the head of Athena, the daughter of the Greek god Zeus, and a statue of a griffin grasping the wheel of fate of the Roman god Nemesis, were targeted, the Times of Israel reports.
Both are part of the Israel Museum’s permanent exhibition and have since been moved for restoration.
As part of their initial investigation, police say the man claimed the statues represented idol worship.
Eli Escusido, director of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said: “This is a shocking case of the destruction of cultural values.
“We see with concern the fact that cultural values are being destroyed by religiously motivated extremists.”
On Friday morning about 16 hours after the defacement, the museum’s doors re-opened to the public.
In February, a Jewish American tourist vandalised a statue of Christ with a hammer at the Church of the Flagellation on the Way of the Cross.
A month earlier, Jewish teenagers defaced historical Christian tombstones at a prominent Jerusalem cemetery.
