Damascus, August 26 (RHC)-- Takfiri terrorists’ media arm in the central Syrian province of Homs released on Tuesday some images depicting the destruction of the 2,000-year-old Baal Shamin temple in the historic Syrian city of Palmyra. The series of photos shows Daesh group members placing barrels and small containers of explosive in and around the temple.

The pictures, which appear to be screen shots from a video, also show a large explosion and the resulting cloud rising from the temples location.

"It is easy enough to view the damage to these heritage sites as something that can be rebuilt, if all we see is the physical; it is far more difficult to grasp the effects of cultural cleansing in the longer term, and to truly absorb its impact on a country’s people,” Lynda Albertson, the chief executive of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, told The Guardian.

The temple, situated in Palmyra in Homs some 215 kilometers northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus, was blown up over the weekend. The city is considered one of the ancient world’s most important cultural centers and was overran by ISIL on May 21st.