Ancient Artifacts Taken from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Ancient artifacts and other artefacts have been taken from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, authorities report.
The burglary was discovered on the start of the week, when staff allegedly found that one of the museum's doors had been damaged from the inside.
The six stolen sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman era, one official told the media outlet.
Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had launched a probe to establish the "circumstances surrounding the theft of a collection of artifacts", and that actions had been enacted to improve protection and monitoring systems.
The chief of domestic security in the Damascus region, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the government press as stating that security forces were examining the theft, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles".
He continued that security personnel at the institution and additional people were being questioned.
The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, holds the significant cultural treasures in the country.
It features clay cuneiform tablets tracing back to the ancient era from an ancient city, where indications of the most ancient linguistic system was discovered; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, a significant cultural centres of the ancient world; and a third century Jewish temple that was constructed at an ancient location.
The museum was forced to close in the early 2010s, one year after the outbreak of the internal strife. Most of the collection was evacuated and preserved at undisclosed sites to protect them.
It partially resumed in 2018 and returned to normal in the beginning of the year, a month after insurgents deposed the Assad regime.
All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or significantly impacted during the civil war.
The IS organization destroyed numerous ancient buildings and other structures at the archaeological site, stating that they were idolatrous. Unesco censured the damage as a atrocity.
Numerous cultural items were also damaged or looted from archaeological sites and collections.
