Historic Sculptures Taken from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Historic sculptures and other artefacts have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.
The robbery was noticed on the start of the week, when employees apparently found that a doorway had been broken from the interior.
The six taken sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman era, a source told the media outlet.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to identify the "circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a group of exhibits", and that steps had been enacted to improve security and surveillance.
The head of national security in the Damascus region, Security Chief Atkeh, was cited by the official media as stating that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had targeted several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".
He noted that guards at the institution and additional people were being interviewed.
The National Museum, which was created in 1919, holds the significant archaeological collection in Syria.
It includes historical records tracing back to the Bronze Age from Ugarit, where evidence of the oldest known writing system was discovered; early centuries CE ancient art from Palmyra, one of the most important ancient sites of the historical period; and a third century synagogue that was built at another archaeological site.
The facility was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, one year after the start of the internal strife. A large portion of the holdings was removed and stored at secret locations to protect them.
It reopened partially in 2018 and resumed full operations in early this year, a month after opposition groups deposed Syria's former leader.
All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or significantly impacted during the internal struggle.
The IS organization destroyed numerous ancient buildings and other structures at the archaeological site, claiming that they were against their beliefs. Unesco denounced the demolition as a war crime.
Countless cultural items were also lost or looted from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.
