You were very lucky to see it before it was destroyed. The scaffolding really shows how big it is.
When I first saw your post, I assumed these were in Syria because the destruction in Palmyra made the news more recently.
I looked into your statue in Afghanistan. Here's what it looked like in 1832:
It was originally covered in mud and straw with dyes like red. It must have been an amazing site. Here's what it looked like in 2018.