As part of its campaign to persecute Christians and destroy their cultural heritage, the Islamic State released a video online on Friday showing its destruction of a 1,600-year-old monastery in central Syria which houses the bones of a Christian saint and martyr which its militants desecrated.
The jihadist group razed the ancient Mar Elian monastery to the ground, using bulldozers to flatten the ancient Church of St. Ellian, located along Tarafa bin al-Abd Street near the Gate of Palmyra in Homs.
ISIS militants also reportedly kidnapped the monastery's abbot, Father Jacques Mouraud and a church volunteer, Botros Hanna, who are now both feared dead.
Earlier this month ISIS kidnapped about 250 Christians from the same monastery and surrounding villages, many of whom were women and children.
The ancient structure featured centuries-old frescoes depicting Christian images.
A Christian clergyman based in Damascus, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said the Islamic State militants destroyed the church inside the monastery that dates back to 5th century.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria and reports on ISIS atrocities, also confirmed the destruction of the monastery.
A local resident who recently fled from the conflict area to Damascus, meanwhile, said the extremist group had also taken away the church bells.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has already expressed concern over the ISIS' continuing campaign to destroy and loot heritage sites in Iraq and Syria.
"I think we are worried about almost all the heritage sites in Syria. Nothing is safe," Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, said.
The UNESCO official added that the ISIS' "view on culture and heritage is just the opposite of what UNESCO stands for."
Last month, ISIS militants destroyed a famous 2,000-year-old limestone statue of a lion called the "Lion of al-Lat," located outside the museum in the Syrian city of Palmyra.
