He was an artist--a painter--and his work was beautiful. He painted stunning landscapes and life-like images of exotic animals.

But the Taliban didn't appreciate art, so he did his work in a small back room, behind locked doors, far away from curious eyes and ears.

Once, they found him and destroyed what they could find. But they left one painting, maybe as a reminder, as a cold warning of what might happen if he didn't learn his lesson. They slashed it through the center and left it as a momento.

Today it is framed, hanging on a wall, as a different kind of symbol.