TEHRAN -- The plunder of the Median era site Zarbolagh is continuing unabated.

The ancient site is frequently excavated by smugglers searching for artifacts which are bought by Iranian and foreign collectors, the Persian service of CHN reported on Tuesday.
Zarbolagh is located in central Iran near the city of Qom and the border of Tehran and Qom provinces in a remote region, thus it is difficult to safeguard the site against the smugglers, said Mehrdad Malekzadeh, who was the head of the archaeological team that conducted the last excavation of the site in 2005.
At the time, Malekzadeh warned about the smugglers looting Zarbolagh.
The team discovered a Median monument that had been deliberately concealed with material such as stones, bricks, and mud, but they have still not unraveled the mystery of the camouflaged monument. However, it is believed that it was a chapel.
The team also discovered some graves, which they surmise are burial sites of Median Mithraist Magi.
The monument has been left defenseless and many holes dug by smugglers are seen around the monument, according to members of cultural heritage societies who visited the site during the Noruz holidays in late March.
The walls and foundations of the monument are collapsing and it is generally in terrible condition, they reported.
The monument is urgently in need of restoration and many appeals for this have been made, but there has been no response so far, Malekzadeh lamented.
Zarbolagh has not been excavated by professionals over the past three years and experts believe that the archaeological information will be wiped out by illegal excavations if the studies on the site are delayed indefinitely.