Painting of relics shows no respect for cultural heritage

ACCORDING TO REPORTS, some Buddhist sculptures in Anyue, Southwest China's Sichuan province, that date back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), were found painted a gaudy red and green. Gmw.cn comments:

The local government has already responded to the incident, saying the damage happened as early as in 1995 and was not reported until recently. It said it was local residents who hired carpenters and painters to paint several Buddhist sculptures and the local government stopped them before more were painted.

In 2012, the sculptures were put on the list of provincial-level antiques, and later included as backups for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is ridiculous for anyone to paint them, even in the name of "repairing" them.