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“It is almost like someone wants to block this kind of research,” said Mr. Knowlton, who discovered the destruction. The attack is a mystery, he said.

“Why? Well, that’s the big question. If you find out why, you might be able to find out who.”

He wonders if someone wants to destroy evidence suggesting the Blackfoot First Nations had a written language before European migration. The damage is the latest destruction of aboriginal pictograms and petroglyphs in Alberta, he said.

News of the loss is perplexing and troubling archaeologists and historians in the province.

“As in the case of the deliberate destruction of early Buddhist carvings in Afghanistan and saints tombs in Timbuktu, any attempt to deliberately ‘erase’ an irreplaceable part of Canada’s ancient cultural and/or religious heritage is outrageous and inexcusable,” said Mr. Dawe.

“If this has happened in Canada, it should be denounced and those responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Mr. Knowlton has been visiting the Glenwood Erratic for more than a decade, partly as a historian and partly as a member of Piikani First Nation.

“This group of rocks are very revered by the native peoples,” he said.

The presence of red ochre signified the rock was a sacred ceremonial site, perhaps thousands of years ago, he said, leading him to pause his examination out of cultural respect.

Starting about five years ago, he oversaw tobacco ceremonies and other aboriginal rites to prepare the way for a thorough examination and survey of the symbols, including plans to take samples from the ochre paint in the grooves of the carvings to determine how old they might be.