Ancient paintings of a cave in Mexico were removed with a chainsaw and stolen.
Paintings from the famous La Cueva Pinta cave in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico have been stolen with chainsaws in recent days.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico announced in a statement:
Those who have done this disrespect to the ancient inhabitants of this desert must be severely punished.
Archaeologists of this institution were sent to this place for investigation after being informed and confirmed that unknown thieves irreparably damaged this place by using a saw and stole a hand-painted image.
The thieves also tried to steal at least two other pictures. Pieces of colored stone were found on the floor of the cave, which archaeologists believe is a sign of damage to the stolen painting.
The identity of the thieves remains unclear, but archaeologists have filed a complaint with the Mexican Attorney General for criminal prosecution. The defendants have been accused of destroying ancient heritage by stealing ancient cave paintings.
The stolen painting was part of a group of paintings with more than 150 images, many of which were drawn on top of each other at different times between 5,000 and 500 years ago.
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