This it totally wrong and this Imam doesn’t have knowledge! It was the 
Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam who had prohibited all shapes and 
kinds of statues and ordered that it should be destroyed! As for the 
ancient artifacts in Egypt, there is no evidence that it was there and 
visible at their time as it was recently discovered! Besides, they 
didn’t have the means and tools of destroying it!

Are statues allowed in Islam? I asked my local Imam from my Mosque  nearby my house here in Holland, and he told me that statues and images  are allowed as long as you don’t worship it. And Umar RA was ruling  over Egypt and he did not order to destroy the statues for over 1400  years long. My Imam told me Quran 34:13 as evidence that statues (not  for worship) are allowed. Is this true ?

Images and image-making |