Jakarta. Purwakarta district head Dedi Mulyadi has ordered police to find out who is responsible for destroying the West Java district's landmark Arjuna statue in the early hours of Thursday (11/02).

The seven-meter-tall statue — depicting a traditional Javanese wayang golek character shooting an arrow into the sky with his bow — was set ablaze at about 4 a.m.

Wayang golek is a form of traditional puppetry that is popular in various parts of the country.

Located on Jalan Raya Wanayasawas, the Arjuna statue was largely made out of fiberglass with some concrete and steel reinforcement.

Dedi, who has built many wayang statues in Purwakarta to celebrate the national cultural heritage, said he had never expected something like this to happen.

The Arjuna statue was erected seven years ago, costing the taxpayer some Rp 200 million ($14,800).

“Wayang golek is part of our national culture. Walisongo [the "nine saints” believed to have spread Islam in Indonesia in the 14th and 15th century] even introduced Islam in Java using wayang golek,” he said on Thursday in Purwakarta, as quoted by Tempo.co.

Local hard-line Muslim groups have long voiced their objections to the wayang-inspired statues, calling them a form of idolatry.

According to Detik.com, other wayang statues in Purwakarta, featuring characters like Semar, Bima, Nakula, Sadewa and Yudhistira, had also been targeted in various acts of vandalism since 2010 but the perpetrators were never caught.

Purwakarta resident Meizar Ahmad Assiry condemned the act, even though he said he didn't really support the idea to erect such statues in the first place.

“The statues were built indeed for cultural purposes but bear in mind that [the local government] never asked us about what kind of Purwakarta [cultural] identity we wanted [to show]," he told Jakarta Globe on Thursday, in a series of text messages.

“I am not a supporter of the statues, because the money used to build them came from us, the taxpayers, but vandalism is not the answer."