ISIS destroys priceless artifacts while ransacking Mosul museum

Islamic State extremists have taken sledgehammers and power drills to a series of 3,000-year-old statues in the Ninevah Museum in Mosul, Iraq, the Daily Mail reports.

A video of the destruction was posted to a Twitter account used by ISIS. An unidentified vandal in the video says the demolition is being done in the name of Muhammad.

"The Prophet ordered us to get rid of statues and relics," the man says, "and his companions did the same when they conquered countries after him."

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The Mail reports that one of the museum artifacts destroyed dates back to the 9th century B.C. This most recent rampage follows the bombing of Mosul Public Library at the hands of ISIS militants. Priceless "idolatrous" maps and manuscripts from the Ottoman Empire are assumed to have been destroyed because they "promote infidelity and call for disobeying Allah."