In July 2007 the Waqf began digging a 400-metre-long, 1.5-metre-deep trench from the northern side of the Temple Mount compound to the Dome of the Rock in order to replace 40-year-old electric cables in the area. The dig, carried out by the Jerusalem Electricity Company, was approved by the Israeli police, but the Israel Antiquities Authority declined to comment whether it had approved the excavations. Israeli archaeologists accused the Waqf of a deliberate act of cultural vandalism. The Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount criticized the use of a tractor for excavation at the Temple Mount without real, professional and careful archaeological supervision involving meticulous documentation. Archaeologist Eilat Mazar said: There is disappointment at the turning of a blind eye and the ongoing contempt for the tremendous archaeological importance of the Temple Mount ..., ... Using heavy machinery and with little documentation, can damage ancient relics and erase evidence of the presence of the biblical structures. Any excavation, even if for technical reasons, must be documented, photographed and the dirt sifted for any remains of relics. Dr. Gavriel Barkai slammed the way the excavations were being carried out stating that They should be using a toothbrush, not a bulldozer. He maintains that some man-worked stones have been found in the trench ... as well as remnants of a wall that, according to all our estimations, are from a structure in one of the outer courtyards in the Holy Temple. Archaeologist Zachi Zweig said a tractor used to dig the trench damaged the foundation of a 7-yard-wide wall that might have been a remnant of the Second Temple.