Valuable Artifacts Removed from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Ancient artifacts and other artefacts have been taken from Syria's National Museum in the capital, officials say.
The burglary was noticed on the start of the week, when employees reportedly found that an entrance had been forced from the interior.
The six stolen sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman period, an authority stated to the media outlet.
Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to determine the "events surrounding the loss of a collection of exhibits", and that measures had been enacted to strengthen protection and monitoring systems.
The director of domestic security in the capital area, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the official media as declaring that law enforcement were probing the theft, which he said had focused on several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles".
He continued that museum protectors at the institution and additional people were being interrogated.
The National Museum, which was established in the early twentieth century, houses the significant cultural treasures in the country.
It includes ancient inscribed tablets dating back to the ancient era from Ugarit, where proof of the most ancient writing system was uncovered; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, one of the most important ancient sites of the classical era; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was built at another archaeological site.
The facility was forced to close in the early 2010s, twelve months after the outbreak of the internal strife. The majority of the collection was evacuated and kept at secure places to ensure their safety.
It partially resumed in 2018 and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, one month after rebel forces overthrew Syria's former leader.
All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or partly ruined during the internal struggle.
The Islamic State group blew up multiple ancient buildings and additional edifices at Palmyra, asserting that they were un-Islamic. Unesco denounced the demolition as a violation.
Countless artefacts were also lost or looted from historical locations and cultural institutions.
