And what if these thieves and vandals also pilfered and destroyed other works by sculptors—Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Claes Oldenberg or Maya Lin—which are spread around the campus?

And then after the travesty occurred, we were only left wondering whether this art was lost forever or worse yet, broken and destroyed?

These 70-plus pieces of sculpture represent a small segment of the 20th-century art world. And they would certainly be deemed a loss to the art community should such an event happen. Yet it pales in comparison to what occurred in the National Museum of Iraq, where thieves destroyed and looted thousands of priceless antiquities dating back to 5000 B.C.

The docent tours that Stanford offers art lovers led me to thinking about the Iraqi museum's losses, and I logged onto the University of Chicago website, which has a special section pertaining to these stolen artifacts. Priceless pieces that were pilfered during the final days of the U.S. war on Iraq are listed and identified and include photographs.

When it was first announced that the Iraqi museum in Baghdad was emptied of its history and its artifacts were broken or stolen, it was gut-wrenching to witness the reactions of those who staffed the museum. Their sorrow, anger and tears reflected the sanctity of what had been lost.

Watching this scene I was angered over the fact that our government made no effort to protect a part of history that belongs to all of humanity.

I don't think anyone can argue that the U.S. government wasn't warned about the likelihood of this event happening, but we knew where these artifacts were and could have protected them.

When it was reported that more than 100,000 objects had been removed from the museum, including pieces like the gold helmet of King Meskalamdug, a gold dagger with a lapis handle and sheath and a fluted gold beaker, all from the royal cemetery—dated 2,400 B.C.—my first thought was, "I hope the looters understand what they have taken and don't melt ancient history down for the gold." I hoped that perhaps the artifacts were actually stolen by people in the know, and like the Nazis wanted to hide these precious pieces in private collections for years to come. At least in that case they would still be preserved—and hopefully recovered in the future.

But such blatant disregard for a priceless part of history in the heart of the world's ancient civilization—including the lack of protection by the United States—can be considered nothing short of ignorance.

Perhaps being so far removed from the event it's hard to understand the magnitude of what's happened, but there is a way to get a glimpse of these artifacts, and it's close to home.

The Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose's Rose Garden neighborhood displays many ancient artifacts. This unique museum has an extensive collection of artwork dating back to the days of the pharaohs and is worthy of a visit. A trip to this museum aids in understanding ancient cultures and why everyone loses when ancient art is stolen.

While the loss is acute, there just might be a small silver lining. Recently several individuals drove up to the Iraqi museum and simple handed over one of its missing treasures. Known as the Warka vase, it dates back to 3,000 B.C. The vase is made out of alabaster, with relief images depicting some of the first images of a religious cult. I took it as a positive sign and hope more returns will follow. Perhaps not all the stolen items were taken for personal gain. Maybe some were taken in an effort to protect the treasures from being destroyed.

And yes, I know that death and destruction are all part of the hardships of war, but the flipside should be equally as important. We should want to not only help restore a country's power and water, but its heritage, art and history also.

Moryt Milo is the editor of The Willow Glen Resident. She can be contacted at 400.200.1051 or mmilo@svcn.com.