Destruction of religious icons

In 2001, the Taliban destroyed two statues of the Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan dating from the third century. Note that there were no riots in response to this action, which was presumably worse by degree than the publication of the now-famous cartoons (since arguably the Bamiyan Buddhas were cultural relics of historical value to us all). Here's a good article by the International Humanist and Ethical Union.