An unidentified gang on Wednesday night vandalised five statues of the Lord Buddha along Butwal-Belahiya road in Tilottama municipality of Rupandehi district.

The road is just a few kilometres away from Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

The municipal government says it has taken the incident seriously as it could have negative impacts on the preparations for the Visit Nepal Year 2020. Lumbini is one of the most popular destinations for foreign as well as domestic tourists in the country.

Mayor Basu Dev Ghimire says the statues were fine till Wednesday night, but they were seen broken into pieces and thrown away onto the road the next morning.

He demands that security agencies look into this incident seriously and take action against the culprit.

Meanwhile, the District Police Office says it has already launched an investigation.

The statues were kept between two left and right sides of the six-lane road on the occasion of Bikram Samvat New Year four months ago.