LIHUE >> A stone altar marking culturally significant Hawaiian land has been damaged on Kauai.

The Garden Island reported that it’s unclear whether the marker protected by state law was damaged on purpose or on accident.

Kauai County spokeswoman Sarah Blane says there’s no evidence suggesting criminal intent. She says someone may have backed their vehicle into the altar — known as an ahu in Hawaiian.

The ahu is significant to Hawaiian nationals because it marks the land as being controlled by federal and state government, rather than by a Hawaiian government.

Markers were built as part of a project to mark lands after a 1993 resolution from U.S. Congress acknowledged and apologized for overthrowing the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893.

The United States annexed Hawaii in 1898.