By Lt Blandine JOLIBOIS

"Cultural heritage and its artefacts provide an essential legacy to understand the economic, social and historical contexts of any civilization—like footprints evidencing the presence and activities of humankind at a given period in its development. This legacy has always been threatened in many ways: gratuitous or irrational destruction - from vandalism to deliberate attempts to annihilate the identity of specific communities -, large-scale removals or ruthless plunder linked to armed conflicts. Human greed is also at work through large networks of organized crime connecting plain thieves looking for profit with obsessive collectors, forgers, drug traffickers, arms dealers and even terrorists. (...)"

To read more :