From the Boston Globe, “Virtuoso’s flutes destroyed by U.S. Customs”:

…Flute virtuoso [Boujemaa Razgui], who performs regularly with The Boston Camerata[,] lost 13 handmade flutes over the holidays when a US Customs official at New York’s JFK Airport mistook the instruments for pieces of bamboo and destroyed them. …

“They said this is an agriculture item,” said Razgui, who was not present when his bag was opened. “I fly with them in and out all the time and this is the first time there has been a problem. This is my life.” When his baggage arrived in Boston, the instruments were gone. He was instead given a number to call. “They told me they were destroyed,” he says.

One reader recalled the travel woes of distinguished Polish pianist Kristian Zimerman, as recounted by the L.A. Times:

Zimerman has had problems in the United States in recent years. He travels with his own Steinway piano, which he has altered himself. But shortly after 9/11, the instrument was confiscated at JFK Airport when he landed in New York to give a recital at Carnegie Hall. Thinking the glue smelled funny, the TSA decided to take no chances and destroyed the instrument. 

Yes, by all means, let’s put federal agencies in charge of as many aspects of our lives as possible.