Daesh blows up Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph

The arch was one of the most recognisable sites in Palmyra, the central city affectionately known by Syrians as the "Bride of the Desert." It sat atop the famed colonnaded streets of the ancient city, which linked the Roman Empire to Persia and the East.

Palmyra was seized by Daesh in May.

"We have received news from the site that the Arch of Triumph was destroyed on Sunday. Daesh booby-trapped it several weeks ago," antiquities director Maamun Abdulkarim reported.

"They want to destroy the amphitheatre, the colonnade. We now fear for the entire city," he added, calling on the international community to "find a way to save Palmyra".

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Daesh blew up the arch but left the colonnades in place.

Palmyra's sprawling Roman-era complex, comprising remains of temples to local gods and goddesses, has been under attack from the Daesh since they seized the site.

Daesh’s self-declared "caliphate," argues such ancient relics promote idolatry and says they are destroying them as part of their eradication of paganism.

However, they are also believed to be making lucrative sums of money selling off looted antiquities.

In recent weeks, Daesh reduced two famed temples in Palmyra each nearly 2,000 years old to rubble.

Daesh’s targeting of priceless cultural artefacts has sparked global outrage and accusations of war crimes.

UNESCO, the UN heritage agency, has called the destruction an "intolerable crime against civilization".

Before the outbreak of Syria's war in March 2011, Palmyra's UNESCO heritage site was one of the top tourist attractions in the Middle East.