destruction of multiple serbian churches occurred in a post-conflict environment done by members of the albanian community, who viewed that architectural heritage as a surrogate for revenge against the milošević government and its military forces for violence committed during the kosovo conflict (1998-1999). the serbian government has used such attacks as a basis to petition the united nations to allow its police and armed forces to return and guard historical monuments in kosovo. the petition did not succeed however, and the post-conflict attacks on serbian cultural heritage have been used by serbian cultural institutions to deflect focus from attacks on albanian cultural heritage done during the war. those institutions reported upon the post-conflict damage done toward orthodox serbian heritage and produced reports that have been accepted by international cultural heritage institutions as neutral and objective assessments.