Historic Statues Removed from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable sculptures and cultural objects have been taken from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, officials say.
The burglary was discovered on Monday, when employees reportedly found that a doorway had been damaged from the interior.
The multiple missing sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman period, a source told the Associated Press.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to determine the "circumstances surrounding the loss of a collection of exhibits", and that steps had been enacted to improve security and monitoring systems.
The chief of national security in the Damascus region, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that authorities were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "archaeological statues and unique items".
He noted that guards at the museum and additional people were being interviewed.
The Damascus Museum, which was created in the early twentieth century, houses the primary historical artifacts in the country.
It includes historical records dating back to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where evidence of the earliest linguistic system was uncovered; Greco-Roman period Greco-Roman sculptures from the ancient city, one of the most important ancient sites of the classical era; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was established at another archaeological site.
The facility was had to cease operations in 2012, twelve months after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. Most of the artifacts was transferred and preserved at secure places to ensure their safety.
It reopened partially in 2018 and returned to normal in early this year, four weeks after rebel forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad.
Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or partly ruined during the conflict.
The militant faction destroyed numerous religious structures and other structures at Palmyra, stating that they were idolatrous. Unesco censured the demolition as a atrocity.
Many artefacts were also damaged or looted from dig sites and museums.
