Namatjira is credited with bringing ghost gums, native trees featured in Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and named for their white bark that glows in moonlight, to wider public consciousness as a symbol of Australian identity.
Northern Territory Indigenous Advancement Minister Alison Anderson said the pair of ghost gums that frame the West MacDonnell Ranges and feature in many of the late Namatjira's works were found burnt to the ground a few days ago.
"In his watercolors (Namatjira) brought the beauty of the Central Australian landscape to the world and helped make it a symbol of Australian identity," Anderson said.
Authorities believe the fire was likely deliberately lit.
Susan McCulloch, author of McCulloch's Encyclopedia of Australian Art, told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper the destruction of the ghost gums was "appalling and a tragic act of cultural vandalism".
Australian trees made famous by Aboriginal artist destroyed - Read Full Story at Arts-Reuters
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