Ancient Mayan pyramid destroyed for road fill

Local media in the Central American country of 334,000 people report the temple at the Noh Mul site in northern Belize was largely torn down by backhoes and bulldozers last week.

"This is one of the worst that I have seen in my entire 25 years of archaeology in Belize," John Morris, an archaeologist with the country's Institute of Archaeology , told local channel 7NewsBelize . "We can't salvage what has happened out here -- it is an incredible display of ignorance."

The institute's director, Jaime Awe, called the destruction "one of the worse set of blows I have felt philosophically and professionally."

"What happened there is both deplorable and unforgivable," Awetold News5 in Belize .

Though the pyramid was grown over with trees and brush, there could be no mistaking what it was, Morris said, Kazinform refers to CNN.

"There is no way that one can say that they did not know. Even for you guys as laypeople can look and you'll see the building," 7NewsBelize quoted Morris as saying.

History and travel in Belize

The pyramid was the center of a settlement of about 40,000 people and 81 buildings over 12 square miles, according to 7NewsBelize. It stood about 65 feet tall and was built around 250 B.C. with hand-cut limestone bricks, archaeologists said.

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