Story highlights Alleged antiquities smuggler lashed by ISIS in Syrian square

World cultural leaders decry militants' destruction of artifacts

(CNN) ISIS militants reportedly smashed cultural treasures from the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, including an artifact dating back to the second century, according to a statement from the group and Syrian state media.

A man smuggling at least six ancient statues through Aleppo province was captured by jihadis and transferred to a self-proclaimed Islamic court in the ISIS-controlled city of Manbij, a Thursday release on the group's social media sites read.

Militants shattered the relics with sledgehammers and lashed the smuggler in a public square packed with onlookers after the court ruled the centuries-old objects violated ISIS' radical interpretation of Islam.

In Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site dating back 2,000 years, ISIS allegedly destroyed the Allat God statue on Thursday, a significant ancient object depicting a lion catching a deer between its feet.

"ISIS terrorists have destroyed one of the most important unearthed statues in Syria in terms of quality and weight ... it was discovered in 1977 and dates back to the second century A.D.," Ma'moun Abdul-Karim, director of museums and antiquities, told state-run SANA news agency on Thursday.

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