Abstract

The destruction of cultural property in times of war is an alarming issue. In spite of the efforts made by the international community to fight this deplorable phenomenon, the reported cases of incidental/intentional damages against cultural property are still numerous. This article retraces some of the most dramatic cases over the last twenty-five years in order to identify the root causes of the destruction of cultural property in the event of armed conflict as well as to assess the core limits of the related international legal system.