Ancient Artifacts Stolen from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Historic sculptures and additional items have been taken from Syria's National Museum in the capital, sources confirm.
The theft was found on Monday, when employees allegedly found that a doorway had been broken from the inside.
The multiple stolen sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman era, a source informed the Associated Press.
Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to determine the "details surrounding the loss of a collection of artifacts", and that actions had been taken to enhance safeguarding and surveillance.
The director of domestic security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was cited by the official media as stating that authorities were probing the incident, which he said had focused on several "ancient sculptures and valuable objects".
He continued that security personnel at the museum and additional people were being interrogated.
The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, contains the most important historical artifacts in the country.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where evidence of the earliest complete alphabet was discovered; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, one of the most important cultural centres of the historical period; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was established at another archaeological site.
The institution was compelled to shut in 2012, a year after the start of the internal strife. A large portion of the artifacts was removed and kept at undisclosed sites to protect them.
It reopened partially in 2018 and returned to normal in the beginning of the year, one month after opposition groups overthrew Syria's former leader.
Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or significantly impacted during the conflict.
The militant faction demolished multiple religious structures and historical sites at the archaeological site, stating that they were idolatrous. Unesco censured the destruction as a war crime.
Countless artefacts were also destroyed or stolen from dig sites and cultural institutions.