[MSN] Australia. Priceless items were destroyed at an Indian cultural centre in northern NSW during what its owners believe was a premeditated attack.

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Indian cultural centre vandalised
February 9, 2007 - 5:54PM

Priceless items were destroyed at an Indian cultural centre in northern NSW
during what its owners believe was a premeditated attack.

The vandals destroyed priceless, 500-year-old manuscripts and used a
200-year-old king's sword to destroy Indian paintings, musical instruments
and statues collected over the past 25 years.

They also damaged a 1.3 square metre marble replica of the Taj Mahal which
cost the owner, Salinder Singh Salindera, $45,000 when he brought it over
from India in the 1980s.

The destruction included toppling a bronze statue in the courtyard of the
Raj Mahal Indian Cultural Centre at Woolgoolga, which has a large Sikh
community.

The offenders also set off fire hoses to flood the building, including the
site's restaurant.

The vandals struck sometime between 3.30pm and 5.30pm on Tuesday when Mr
Salindera and his wife were away from the premises.

"A lot of the items were priceless," Mr Salindera said.

He said he was convinced the incident was an act of planned vandalism, with
only the sword stolen.

One-third of Woolgoolga's 15,000 residents are of Indian descent but racial
tensions are relatively low, Mr Salindera said, and he did not consider it
to be a reason for the attack.

"In all these years, sometime if somebody at midnight, drunk and passing
through, might throw a stone and break a window or something - that's
acceptable," Mr Salindera said.

"But right during the daylight with sort of timing, nobody ever dared try to
do that."

He said the police were unable to attend the cultural centre the day of the
crime but a forensic team lifted fingerprints and other evidence the next
day.

Police said investigations are continuing.

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