Historic Sculptures Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable sculptures and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.
The burglary was discovered on the start of the week, when staff apparently found that a doorway had been broken from the inside.
The six stolen sculptures were made of marble and dated back to the ancient Roman times, an authority stated to the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to establish the "events surrounding the disappearance of a number of exhibits", and that measures had been taken to improve safeguarding and monitoring systems.
The director of internal security in the Damascus region, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as saying that authorities were investigating the theft, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and unique items".
He added that museum protectors at the facility and other persons were being interrogated.
The cultural institution, which was founded in the early twentieth century, contains the significant cultural treasures in Syria.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets originating to the ancient era from Ugarit, where indications of the most ancient complete alphabet was uncovered; early centuries CE classical statues from historical site, one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world; and a third century synagogue that was constructed at Dura Europos.
The facility was forced to close in the early 2010s, a year after the outbreak of the internal strife. The majority of the artifacts was transferred and preserved at secret locations to ensure their safety.
It began limited operations in 2018 and returned to normal in early this year, four weeks after opposition groups removed President Bashar al-Assad.
All six of the country's cultural landmarks were harmed or significantly impacted during the civil war.
The IS organization demolished several ancient buildings and additional edifices at the archaeological site, stating that they were idolatrous. International authorities condemned the destruction as a atrocity.
Numerous artefacts were also destroyed or looted from dig sites and museums.
