Tunis — "The ongoing attacks on mausoleums and zawiyas (shrines of saints) originate in a methodical plan aimed to destroy collective memory," reads a Culture Ministry communiqué published on Wednesday.

The Ministry highlights "with regret" that some of these attacks "strangely" coincided with the celebration of the Mouled feast (birth of Prophet Mohamed).

As regards the efforts exerted, in coordination with the Interior Ministry, to devise "a national plan" for the protection of mausoleums and monuments, the Culture Ministry announced that it had suggested "to set up a specialised unit within the National Heritage Institute and entrust it with the protection of historical and cultural sites."