Stone statues of Rapa Nui called moai did not represent any deities, but they were regarded with respect and were believed to possess powers that came from ancestors. Each statue represented a chief or highborn member of the clan.
Before moai were erected on sacred platform called ahu it took usually a year to carve it by group of many workers.
All the moai were toppled by islanders themselves. Ahu were desecrated by pulling stones in order to construct walls, and dwellings.
Moai standing on Easter Island today were re-erected by archeologists in the second half of the 20th century, but most of the statues have not been restored. Many ahu around the island look like piles of rubble.
