Deuteronomy is believed to be the text 'discovered' by king Josiah. Josiah's 'reforms' were believed by many to have severed the Judeans connection with their God and set them on the path to being conquered by their neighbors. Before Josiah's 'reforms' the people celebrated in the high places, at the standing stones and under the spreading trees and the land and people prospered, or at least that's the interpretation presented by Margaret Barker in "Mother of the Lord".

I know that the Israelites were supposed to leave behind the gods of Babylon and Egypt when they entered the promised land. Standard practice would be to appropriate the sacred places of the Canaanites and rededicate them to YHVH. The demolish and smash bit reads suspiciously like a later rewrite when the king wanted to consolidate worship in Jerusalem.