Why did Xerxes I burn the Acropolis in Athens?

During the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE, Xerxes I marched his forces into Attica and occupied Athens after the Greek defeat at Thermopylae.12

The burning of the Acropolis was a consequence of this occupation. While the historical record does not explicitly state a singular motive for the act, it occurred in the context of a punitive campaign intended to avenge the defeat Darius I suffered at the Battle of Marathon. During the sacking, the Persians destroyed the temples on the Acropolis and seized statues of Harmodius and Aristogiton, figures celebrated by the Athenians for assassinating the tyrant Hipparchus.23

The destruction of the site is often viewed as a manifestation of the Persian effort to suppress Greek resistance and punish the city for its defiance. The symbolic weight of this event was significant; the act was later characterized by Alexander the Great as an act of impiety, which he used to justify his own later campaigns against the Persian Empire.123