The destruction of the taonga appears to relate to a fringe fundamentalist Christian belief held by the two people in the video that the wearing of pounamu is idolatry.

Throughout the video, uploaded to Facebook by the account Ahi Wairua Tapu, the woman filming explains the taonga was gifted to the man by his father.

"[Pounamu] is not worth having in your homes," the woman says. "All it is is stone, nothing more and nothing less." Read more