The crew of the TV serial program "Clan Feuds" is accused of devastating two stone inscriptions designated as national cultural relics in Zhejiang, the Dong Fang Daily reported on August 10.

"The crew painted the characters Tie Cheng gray in an effort to make them look good on TV," the scenic spot management director Hu Zhengqing told the paper.

This came just months after the film crew of the blockbuster "Wu Ji", directed by internationally acclaimed Chen Kaige damaged the local ecosystem of Bigu Lake in the southwestern province of Yunnan after erecting roads and buildings without permission.

But producer Guangdong CHS Media Holding Co., Ltd denies the charges, saying that no one had told them the inscriptions were cultural relics.

According to the paper the characters Tie Cheng were carved by Ming Dynasty calligrapher Hao Jing in praise official Li Jian. Li's alias was Tie Cheng.

According to the crew communication director who can only be identified by his surname Guo, they would not have painted over the inscriptions if they had been informed in advance.

"On discovering what they had done, we immediately discussed the matter with the crew," Hu says.

According to Hu, the crew promised beforehand that the paint on the inscriptions could be removed and agreed to clean the paint off after finishing the shoot.

"We gave them tacit approval because of the publicity they were going to bring to the spot," says Hu, adding that they charged the crew 2,000 yuan (US$250) as a cash deposit to ensure they can remove the paint after their shoot.

But the crew rushed to leave the site after paying the 2,000 yuan as the fee for relieving, according to the paper.

Experts and officials expressed concern over the damage.

Xu Wenping, who serves as a director at the School of Drawing at Lishui University in Zhejiang Province, says the incident is another great blow to national relics following the damage from the 'Wu Ji' crew.

According to the deputy director general of the department of cultural relics of the Zhejiang Historical Relics Bureau Yang Xinping, what the crew did was illegal, and that TV and film crews must obtain permission from the proper departments before filming in order to protect cultural relics. "Damaging original relics is not allowed," Yang says.

According to Yang, the crew didn't apply for a permit before the shoot.

The case is under investigation by the Supervision Team of the Zhejiang Cultual Relics Protection Bureau.

According to the paper, the inscriptions' color has been tainted following efforts to remove the paint.

"We can't recover the original image," Hu says.

(China Daily August 11, 2006)