Ancient Statues Removed from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable sculptures and additional items have been taken from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, officials say.
The burglary was found on the start of the week, when staff apparently found that one of the museum's doors had been broken from the inside.
The multiple missing pieces were marble creations and originated to the Roman period, a source told the news agency.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to establish the "events surrounding the theft of a collection of items", and that measures had been implemented to improve security and monitoring systems.
The director of internal security in Damascus province, Security Chief Atkeh, was cited by the official media as stating that authorities were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".
He noted that security personnel at the museum and other persons were being interrogated.
The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, holds the most important cultural treasures in Syria.
It contains ancient inscribed tablets originating to the ancient era from Ugarit, where proof of the oldest known complete alphabet was found; Greco-Roman period classical statues from historical site, one of the most important cultural centres of the historical period; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was built at an ancient location.
The museum was forced to close in the early 2010s, a year after the start of the devastating civil war. The majority of the artifacts was evacuated and preserved at secret locations to ensure their safety.
It partially resumed in recent years and returned to normal in the beginning of the year, four weeks after rebel forces deposed the Assad regime.
Every one of nationally recognized sites were damaged or significantly impacted during the internal struggle.
The militant faction demolished multiple ancient buildings and historical sites at the ancient city, stating that they were un-Islamic. International authorities condemned the damage as a war crime.
Many historical objects were also damaged or stolen from historical locations and cultural institutions.
