The U.S. spent $500,000 on an Afghan training center that's literally melting down

A recent investigation by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found that a U.S.-built dry firing range for Afghan police is melting away.

The range, which is in the Wardak province and cost the U.S. roughly $500,000, was designed to look like an Afghan village. Afghan police have used it for simulated police search and clearance exercises, according to the Inspector General's report.

The report explains that "poor contractor performance" and "poor government oversight" led to the building's disintegration, which started only four months after the project was completed in 2012.

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Afghan authorities have decided to demolish the firing range and will rebuild it with funds from the Afghan Ministry of the Interior. According to the Inspector General, the range was "not only an embarrassment, but, more significantly, a waste of U.S. taxpayers' money."

The Washington Post notes that this isn't the first time the U.S. has wasted money in Afghanistan: Earlier this month, the Post reported that the Pentagon spent $57.1 million on an Afghan military base that has faulty generators and "inoperable" fuel pumps.