Did the Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, smash the idols during the Meccan period, or did that only happen after the conquest of Mecca?

It has not been established that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, destroyed idols in Mecca before the the Hijra, and the narration mentioned in this regard is weak. Imam Ahmad and others narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib a hadith (definition) that mentions his destruction of a statue on top of the Kaaba, but this hadith is weak. Scholars have differed concerning its two narrators, "Abu Maryam" and "Nu'aym ibn Hakim"; some authenticated them, while others weakened or deemed them unknown, to the extent that Al-Dhahabi described the text of the hadith as "munkar" (denounced).