A number of Easter Island's iconic 'Moai' stone statues suffered irreparable damage after a wildfire swept through the island earlier this week, the island's mayor told Reuters on Friday.
"It's unquantifiable, unmeasurable, the damage there is, it's irrecoverable," said Pedro Edmunds, mayor of Easter Island, a territory of Chile. "Because what the fire does is heat the rock and the rock cracks."
A preliminary report released by Chile's culture, arts and heritage ministry stated that a wildfire that started on Tuesday swept through more than 60 hectares and damaged an unknown number of the sacred Moai statues. The Rano Raraku volcanic crater, which is in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Rapa Nui National Park and where several statues are located, was severely damaged by the fire.
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