Archaeologists say that the vandals' metal detectors may have been triggered by pyrite, otherwise known as fool's gold.

In the the eastern Sahara desert lies the ancient remains of Jabal Maragha, which was once a small settlement in the ancient Nubian Kingdom of Kush. Recently, however, this 2,000-year-old historic site was destroyed by a gang of illegal treasure hunters who dug a massive trench there in search of gold.

According to Africa News , the gang of miners used a pair of machines to dig out a giant hole that measured 55 feet deep and 65 feet long. Officials from Sudan’s Antiquities and Museums Department said that the historical site was rendered unrecognizable.

“We worked on this site for a month,” said archaeologist Habab Idriss Ahmed, who first excavated Jabal Maragha’s r

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