Many of the enigmatic Moai statues on Easter Island, Chile were badly damaged by a recent forest fire that rode roughshod over Rapa Nui national park, where the figures are located, authorities have announced.
Easter Island Mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa told local broadcaster Radio Pauta that Monday’s fire was “not an accident,” claiming that all the blazes on Rapa Nui “are caused by human beings.”
“The damage caused by the fire can’t be undone. The cracking of an original and emblematic stone cannot be recovered, no matter how many millions of euros or dollars are put into it,” Paoa pointed out.
He spoke as Chile’s Cultural Heritage Undersecretary Carolina Perez said that it remains unclear how many carved stone figures were damaged during the fire in Rapa Nui, which has more than 1,000 giant statues and carvings, built by a Polynesian tribe in approximately 1400 - 1650 A.D.
But it is already clear that the area around the Rano Raraku volcano, a UNESCO world heritage site, was purportedly most affected. An estimated several hundred Moai are in that area.
A grimmer comment has meanwhile came from Ariki Tepano, director of the Ma’u Henua community in charge of the management and maintenance of the Rapa Nui park, who described the damage as “irreparable”.
“The Moai are totally charred and you can see the effect of the fire upon them”, Tepano added.
Scientists from all across the globe remain at loggerheads over principles of construction of Moai statues, the largest of which weigh 74 metric tons and stand 10 meters tall.