A famous statue of a lion, which had a history of 2000 years was destroyed by the Islamic State (IS) group jihadists, the country's antiquities director said.

Maamoun Abdelkarim, the Syrian historian said that, the statue is named as ‘Lion of al-Lat’ was an irreplaceable and a unique piece, which is three metres (10 feet) tall and weighs around 15 tonnes.

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"It's the most serious crime they have committed against Palmyra's heritage," he said.

The statue was actually covered with a metal plate and sandbags to protect it from fighting "but we never imagined that IS would come to the town to destroy it," Abdel opined.

-    Picture below is the interior of Palmyra's ancient Roman amphitheatre



-    Notice the heavily armed jihadis, patrolling the steps of Palmyra's ancient amphitheatre



In 1977, the limestone statue was discovered by a Polish archeological mission at the temple of Al-Lat, a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess.

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The thick black smoke in the picture below is rising over Roman ruins that have stood for thousands of years in the central Syrian Desert city. After capturing Palmyra, ISIS militants are understood to have won the support of much of the local population by promising not to destroy the city's famous monuments.



ISIS has raised its flag over ancient buildings in Palmyra while also slaughtering hundreds of locals - including women and children



By Phani