פירוש על עבודה זרה 106:7

The Talmud makes a fascinating analogy. The Torah says that when the Israelites conquer the land, they must burn the asherim trees. But why should the fact that the idolaters worshipped these these trees make them prohibited? These trees belong to Israel because God promised the land to Israel, and if so, how could the idolaters have made them prohibited. And if we were to say that the verse refers to trees planted before God’s promise, then the Israelites would not have to destroy the trees—annulment would have been sufficient (an idol worshipped by a Jew must be destroyed, but one worshipped by a non-Jew may be annulled). The answer is that when the Israelites worshipped the Golden Calf they revealed their idolatrous proclivities. Therefore, when idolaters worshipped these trees, they were only fulfilling the Israelites’ will and this gives them the ability to make something that does not belong to them prohibited. The same is true with the brick. Since the Jew set it up to be worshipped, he reveals that he has idolatrous proclivities and the non-Jew can prohibit it by worshipping it.