Ancient Sculptures Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Historic statues and cultural objects have been removed from Syria's National Museum in the capital, sources confirm.
The theft was noticed on the start of the week, when employees allegedly found that an entrance had been damaged from the inside.
The six stolen pieces were made of marble and dated back to the Roman era, an authority stated to the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to establish the "details surrounding the disappearance of a number of artifacts", and that measures had been implemented to improve security and surveillance.
The chief of domestic security in the Damascus region, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that authorities were investigating the incident, which he said had affected several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".
He continued that museum protectors at the institution and additional people were being interviewed.
The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, contains the primary archaeological collection in Syria.
It includes ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where evidence of the oldest known complete alphabet was uncovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, among the foremost historical locations of the classical era; and a third century synagogue that was built at Dura Europos.
The facility was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, one year after the beginning of the internal strife. The majority of the collection was removed and kept at secure places to protect them.
It reopened partially in 2018 and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, four weeks after opposition groups overthrew the Assad regime.
All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partly ruined during the internal struggle.
The militant faction blew up multiple temples and historical sites at the ancient city, asserting that they were against their beliefs. The cultural organization denounced the destruction as a war crime.
Numerous artefacts were also lost or taken from dig sites and collections.
