The 10th century Sanahin Monastery is included in the World Heritage List of 936 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. There are 7 such sites in Armenia

Armenia is a signatory to the 1972 World Heritage Convention and, as such, has an obligation to report regularly to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of their World Heritage properties.

In addition, by signing the Convention, each country pledges to conserve not only the World Heritage sites situated on its territory, but also to protect its national heritage.

In April, 2010, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan toured Lori Marz and his first stop was at Sanahin. At the time, the government's website mentioned that a working group of church and lay experts would be formed to study options regarding the restoration of the monastery.

Today, 15 months after PM Sargsyan's visit, the dome of Sanahin more resembles as forest nursery than anything else.

It seems that once the government official left Lori, the condition of this unique world cultural site was forgotten.

A new civic action group "We Will Not Remain Silent" has publicly voiced its concerns regarding Sanahin and argues that the monastery's present state is a national embarrassment.

The group has been in the news lately for spreading the word regarding the questionable tiling of the walls of the Gandzasar Monastery in Artsakh.