Priceless items, including 500-year-old manuscripts were destroyed in an Indian cultural centre in Woolgoolga township of New South Wales, a report said on Friday.
In the incident that took place at Woolgoolga's Raj Mahal Indian Cultural Centre, which has a large Indian ethnic community, a 200-year-old king's sword was used to destroy Indian paintings, musical instruments and statues collected over the past 25 years.
Also destroyed was a 1.3 sq mt marble replica of the Taj Mahal, which cost the owner, Salinder Singh Salindera, Australian $45,000, the Australian Associated Press said on Friday.
The unique replica was brought from India in the 1980s.
"A lot of the items were priceless," Salindera said.
He said he was convinced the incident was an act of planned vandalism, with only the sword stolen.
One-third of Woolgoolga's 15,000 residents are of Indian ethnic origin, but racial tensions are relatively low, Salindera said.
