It’s one of the 10 commandments .
You yourself said you were under them.
If you are under them that means it is for you too
A statue of a cow or a woman is still a statue .
You are basically stating that you can’t understand how they didn’t believe after all they had seen . Well what is your excuse ? You have the entire Bible that tells you exactly what happened and exactly what to do yet you don’t believe what it says .
In essence what you are telling is that was rules for them but not for me .
I do have an entire bible, and enjoy reading it. Including The Apocrypha. (said I was not entirely orthodox)
Let me put it this way - does your church have a cross in it? That is an image, right. A symbol. Would you disrespect it? Burn it? I doubt it very much - no Christian of any creed would. Why not?
Do you have a picture of Jesus? Go rip it up. You would not.
Or take November 11th. Do you wear a poppy in remembrance of the fallen? (Not sure if Americans do that, sorry) Are you venerating the paper and plastic poppy, or is it a symbol of the dead?
A statue is a symbol. A gravestone is a symbol. Would you deface a grave?
We are commanded to not mistake the symbol for the fact.
People do, though. I would no more deny that than I would deny I am typing a response to you right now. Which is why we have the God given commandment. Everyone can be a little dumb at times and need a reminder. He knows that.