Ancient Statues Removed from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable artifacts and other artefacts have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, authorities report.
The theft was discovered on Monday, when employees apparently found that one of the museum's doors had been forced from the inside.
The half-dozen stolen sculptures were crafted from marble and dated back to the Roman period, a source informed the Associated Press.
Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to identify the "circumstances surrounding the loss of a collection of artifacts", and that measures had been implemented to improve safeguarding and monitoring systems.
The chief of national security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the official media as stating that authorities were probing the robbery, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and valuable objects".
He continued that museum protectors at the facility and additional people were being interrogated.
The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, holds the most important historical artifacts in the country.
It contains historical records tracing back to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where indications of the earliest complete alphabet was found; Greco-Roman period Greco-Roman sculptures from the ancient city, among the foremost ancient sites of the classical era; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was built at Dura Europos.
The museum was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, one year after the outbreak of the destructive conflict. A large portion of the holdings was removed and stored at undisclosed sites to protect them.
It began limited operations in recent years and completely reopened in early this year, one month after insurgents removed the Assad regime.
Every one of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partly ruined during the internal struggle.
The militant faction demolished numerous religious structures and historical sites at Palmyra, claiming that they were idolatrous. International authorities censured the demolition as a violation.
Countless historical objects were also lost or looted from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.
