Muhammad himself is depicted in a hadith as appearing to be in favor of such actions: “Narrated ‘Aisha and ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas: When the last moment of the life of Allah’s Apostle came he started putting his ‘Khamisa’ on his face and when he felt hot and short of breath he took it off his face and said, ‘May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets.’ The Prophet was warning (Muslims) of what those had done.” (Sahih Bukhari 1:8:427)
“Alleged Islamic extremist accused of destroying Timbuktu monuments sent to Hague,” Associated Press, September 26, 2015:
An alleged Islamic extremist charged with involvement in the destruction of religious buildings in the historic city of Timbuktu in Mali in 2012 has been arrested and was sent to the International Criminal Court early on Saturday.
Ahmad Al Mahdi Al Faqi, known as Abu Tourab, is the first suspect in the court’s custody charged with the war crime of destroying religious or historical monuments.
Al Faqi was surrendered to the court by Niger based on an arrest warrant issued a week ago and transferred to the Hague early on Saturday. No date was immediately set for his arraignment.
The court said in a statement he was a member of Ansar Dine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that ruled across northern Mali in 2012.
He is charged in the destruction of 10 historic buildings including mausoleums and a mosque in Timbuktu….