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"The greatest library of the ancient world, the Library of Alexandria, which had been collecting works since 330 BC, was destroyed by the Muslims in 641 AD. When asked what to do with the library after the capture of Alexandria, Caliph Umar [advisor to and father-in-law of The Prophet Muhammad] replied: "If the books are in accordance with the book of Allah, we may do without them, for the book of Allah more than suffices. If they are not in accordance, then there is no need to preserve them." It took six months to destroy the library, losing forever much of the scholarship of the ancient world. It was the most evil act of vandalism in history. " - Humphery ? (website found through google)

Exactly what I was thinking... The library at Alexandria

If the books are in accordance with the book of Allah, we may do without them, for the book of Allah more than suffices. If they are not in accordance, then there is no need to preserve them.

I had heard this story before and it sounds plausible, but a recent book I read about Alexandria claims that the date and cause of the library's destruction are still uncertain.

"The date of the library's destruction has long been a matter of debate. Caesar (100-44 B.C.) has been a suspect, because in his De bello alexandrino he describes how his troops set fire to a warehouse filled with papyrus scrolls near the port; but in fact the place he describes is clearly too far away to have been the Library. Another suspect is the Muslim general Amr ibn al-As, who conquered Alexandria in AD 642; but the stories about him are related by a Christian writer and cannot be trusted. Strabo was in Alexandria in 25 BC, and although he refers only to the Mouseion [research institute next to the library], it is likely that much of the information he supplies about Egypt comes from the Library; equally, if it had already been destroyed, he would surely have mentioned the fact. Once again we should probably think in terms of the violence and destruction that accompanied the wars between Zenobia of Palmyra and the Emperor Aurelian in the second half of the 3rd century. or the disturbances at the end of the centrury during the reign of Diocletian." - Alexandria, Jewel of Egypt - Jean-Yves Empereur

It seems strange that they can't narrow it down more than this. I suppose if the remains of the Library could be found, it might be possible to date the destruction of the physical building.