TEHRAN -- The Karafto Cave, which was a residential area for people living over 10,000 years ago, has been spoilt by thoughtless individuals.

Animal and floral motifs drawn by people in ancient times on the cave’s walls have been desecrated by graffiti, the Persian service of CHN reported on Saturday.
Located near the city of Divandarreh in northwestern Iran’s province of Kordestan, the cave has previously been registered on the National Cultural Heritage List.
This natural cave comprises many man-made rooms and is visited by both Iranian and foreign tourists throughout the year; however, the graffiti, which seems to mostly comprise the names of the writers, has generally been inscribed by Iranian visitors.
Many rooms have been carved out in four stories at the front of the cave, which is about 750 meters in length.
There is a Greek inscription on top of the entrance of one of the third floor rooms.
It reads, “Here is Helcules’ home, everybody who enters will be safeguarded.”
Thus, the cave is also believed to have been used by the Seleucids, a dynasty of Macedonian kings that reigned in the Middle East from the 4th to the 1st century BC.
In addition, various bas-reliefs depicting Iranian royals in hunting fields have been carved on the walls of the cave.
One of them shows a horse rider, generally taken to be Parthian king Gotarzes II.