Tadrart Acacus, Libya - 18 January 2018

1. Wide of 4x4 truck driving towards Acacus mountains in the far southwest of Libya

2. Mid of sign reading (Arabic/English) "Department of Antiquities.This site is protected by law"

3. Mid of 4x4 truck driving down sandhill towards Acacus mountains

4. Mid of 4x4 truck driving towards the natural arch of Forzhaga

5. Wide of trucks parked at the natural arch of Forzhaga

6. Various of local tourists looking at Acacus ancient rock art

7. Close of Acacus ancient rock art

8. Yahya Saleh, tour guide, talking to local tourists

9. Close of Acacus ancient rock art

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yahya Saleh, tour guide:

"Of course, the problem of Acacus currently is the arrival of hunters from another area, who do not know the value of these drawings. They come and make such writings on the drawings, they come only to do the scribbling and go. And this is caused by the lack of protection of the effects. There is no one to protect them. They say tourist police protect the ruins but in fact no one protects these effects."

11. Various of vandalised ancient rock art

12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yahya Saleh, tour guide:

"No one enters here from other countries, only the Libyans. The Libyans are the ones who write on the effects. Our Libyan youth come here to hunt deer and then they write and scrawl their memories on the antiquities. These monuments are history, this is what the Libyans will live with, and they treat them this way? This is not good, the previous year this problem did not exist, I was here last year, and it did not exist."

13. Mid of Yahya pointing at vandalised ancient rock art

14. Close of vandalised ancient rock art

15. Mid of Yahya pointing at vandalised ancient rock art, UPSOUND: "This writing is new, last year this wasn't here"

16. Close of vandalised ancient rock art

17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yahya Saleh, tour guide:

"People do not know the value of this. There are supposed to be people to protect these areas, whether from the state or from the city of Ghat. The important thing to do is to put somebody to protect them, because if this issue persists, then they will be gone within two years."

18. Various of vandalised ancient rock art

19. Mid of local tourists standing next to ancient holes cut in rock

20. Close of ancient holes cut in rock

21. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Shobana, domestic tourist:

"This is the first time I have visited the Acacus region, these beautiful landscapes, these timeless pieces, and these beautiful artefacts. I have visited half of the world, but this is the first time I have seen such scenes, and I cannot believe that I am in my country, in Libya."

22. Wide of Ismail standing next to naturally formed rocks

23. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ismail Shobana, domestic tourist:

"This is why I encourage all the young people and all the families. Here is safety, here is wealth, here is happiness, here is joy and here is pleasure. They must come to enjoy these scenes and watch this beauty and magic, and God Almighty I haven't seen such scenes in my life before. I hope that God will help us and bless us with happiness and gather us together to see these artefacts."

24. Various of ancient rock art

25. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hisham Al-Adoly, tour guide:

"Libya was an important raw material for tourists. It was a favorite destination, and year after year the numbers were increasing. Unfortunately, due to the events that took place in 2011, tourism stopped completely."

26. Close of ancient rock art

27. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hisham Al-Adoly, tour guide:

"We are a group of tour guides, activists and people interested in tourism. We had the idea of trying to activate local tourism in Libya by designing and carrying out trips like the ones we were doing for foreigners but for Libyans instead."

28. Various of ancient rock art

29. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hisham Al-Adoly, tour guide:

"The members who registered and wanted to go on this trip had security concerns because, as we know, Libya is currently undergoing a political struggle and other events. Security is unstable and unsettled in some areas, there was explicit fear. But when we explained the situation to them and called friends and people in the south, they were reassured in terms of security."

30. Wide of tourists standing at the natural arch of Tin Ghalega (Red Rhino Arch)

31. Mid of local Tuareg people with their camels

32. Various of camels at Acacus mountains

The golden sands of the Sahara stretch out towards the Acacus mountains in southwestern Libya.

The area is located near the ancient city of Ghat near the Algerian border. And in this strange landscape lie some of the country's greatest treasures.

Tourists crowd around the rock formations to get a peek at a window into ancient civilisations. Drawings - some up to 14,000 years old - decorate the stone. The depections of cattle and humans are a hint to the lives of people who lived in the Tadrart Acacus area long ago.

And they are so highly regarded, this place is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

But tour guides are reporting worrying damage.

The rock art has been defaced by graffiti and tourists have sprayed the pictures with water to make them appear more clearly in photographs.

Names recently written in Arabic can be found alongside ancient drawings.

Tour guide Yahya Saleh is certain he knows who to blame for the vandalism.

"No one enters here from other countries, only the Libyans. The Libyans are the ones who write on the effects," he says.

"Our Libyan youth come here to hunt deer and then they write and scrawl their memories on the antiquities. These monuments are history, this is what the Libyans will live with, and they treat them this way?"

He points to words etched inside a picture of livestock that he is sure was not here a year ago.

Libya descending into chaos following the uprising that toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

And looking after this art has not been a priority for a country beset with a myriad of other problems.

But Saleh warns the site must be preserved.

"People do not know the value of this," he says.

"The important thing to do is to put somebody to protect them, because if this issue persists, then they will be gone within two years."

Libya is like a huge, open-air museum of history because of its many archaeological sites - five are on the World Heritage List.

But the country has been ravaged by conflict and many of these precious places have been attacked, shrines have been destroyed, sites looted and antiquities stolen.

But the awe-inspiring landscape of the Tadrart Acacus still stuns visitors - even those who come from Libya.

"I have visited half of the world, but this is the first time I have seen such scenes, and I cannot believe that I am in my country, in Libya," says Ismail Shobana.

Domestic tourists like Shobana are the only people likely to come here now.

Poor security means foreigners are not prepared to venture into Libya.

So those who make their living from the industry have had to get creative to drum up business.

"We had the idea of trying to activate local tourism in Libya by designing and carrying out trips like the ones we were doing for foreigners but for Libyans instead," explains Hisham Al-Adoly, a tour guide.

But he says even Libyans have had "security concerns".

"Security is unstable and unsettled in some areas, there was explicit fear. But when we explained the situation to them and called friends and people in the south, they were reassured in terms of security," Al-Adoly says.

Maintaining tourist interest in these ancient rocks and their art is crucial.

As long as people still value the site, there remains some hope that it can be protected for future generations and for a time when Libya is once again stable.