🔗 Share this article

Valuable artifacts and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, authorities report.

The burglary was noticed on Monday, when staff allegedly found that an entrance had been damaged from the interior.

The six missing sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman period, an authority told the Associated Press.

Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to determine the "events surrounding the loss of a group of artifacts", and that steps had been taken to strengthen safeguarding and surveillance.

The director of domestic security in the capital area, Security Chief Atkeh, was cited by the official media as stating that authorities were probing the robbery, which he said had focused on several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".

He noted that guards at the facility and other individuals were being interrogated.

The cultural institution, which was founded in the early twentieth century, holds the primary historical artifacts in the country.

It contains clay cuneiform tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where indications of the oldest known complete alphabet was uncovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD classical statues from historical site, one of the most important ancient sites of the ancient world; and a third century religious building that was constructed at another archaeological site.

The institution was compelled to shut in 2012, one year after the start of the destructive conflict. The majority of the holdings was removed and kept at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.

It reopened partially in 2018 and returned to normal in the beginning of the year, four weeks after insurgents overthrew the Assad regime.

Every one of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.

The Islamic State group destroyed several temples and historical sites at the ancient city, stating that they were against their beliefs. International authorities censured the destruction as a atrocity.

Many historical objects were also destroyed or looted from historical locations and museums.