Iconoclasm is a form of vandalism aimed at the destruction of sacred images and perpetrated because of religious or political conflict.
Early examples of iconoclasts are the Byzantine Emperor Leo III, the Isaurian who made the destruction of sacred images state policy and the Vikings who destroyed the churches of western Europe in the name of Wotan. Florence in the time of Savonarola revived iconoclasm, with Botticelli and Lorenzo di Credi throwing their own works into the flames.
A recent example of iconoclasm is the destruction by bombing of the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, the world's largest Buddhist shrine, in January 1985. It is thought to have been perpetrated by Muslim extremists.