What is the purpose of the allusion to St. Paul's Cathedral and its architect, Wren?

In "The Destructors," the house that the gang destroys was built by Sir Christopher Wren, a famous English architect who also designed and built St. Paul's Cathedral in London. There's a very famous photo that shows the majestic dome of St. Paul's standing firm in the midst of a German air raid during World War II. The photo became a symbol of Britain's defiance of Hitler and the Nazis and had enormous propaganda value.
"The Destructors" takes place in a rough part of London just after the war, its apocalyptic urban landscape still deeply scarred by the ravages of German air raids. The old man's house, just like Wren's most famous building, has managed to withstand the worst that the German bombers could rain down upon it. Yet now it's been reduced to rubble by a gang of hooligans.
Greene appears to be expressing concern that a society, still deeply traumatized by conflict, and riven by class divisions, is in serious danger of inflicting destruction on itself that, in its own way, is more serious than that inflicted by the Germans. Whereas the war brought people together, the postwar period threatens to pull them apart. The destruction of another one of Wren's great buildings could be said to symbolize a disturbing disconnection between the urban poor and their national history and heritage.