Effaced Effaced is not the correct term for what happened in Afghanistan because they didn t fully destroy the statues The picture that you have now changed twice shows two statues that continue to exist The definition taken from ol dictionary com is this To rub or wipe out erase To make indistinct as if by rubbing To conduct oneself inconspicuously The statues still stand thus not wiped or rubbed out they are not indistinct they were an attack specifically on religious statues to warn others that various religions would not be tolerated making them incredibly distinct and they were hardly inconspicuous Therefore defaced is the proper word to use for this picture