What's 2,000 year old history worth anyway?

Despite being placed on a list of important historical sites in 2001 by the Chinese government, local government officials in Inner Mongolia, China gave the go-ahead for bulldozers to raze tombs dating back at least 2,000 years so they could cash in on the local housing boom. All of that history turned into rubble. Ahhh, the perks of being a government official.