Historic Artifacts Taken from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable artifacts and additional items have been removed from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, sources confirm.
The robbery was found on Monday, when employees allegedly found that one of the museum's doors had been damaged from the interior.
The six missing statues were crafted from marble and traced back to the ancient Roman times, one official informed the news agency.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to determine the "events surrounding the theft of a group of artifacts", and that measures had been taken to enhance security and monitoring systems.
The director of national security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the government press as saying that security forces were investigating the incident, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and unique items".
He continued that security personnel at the museum and other persons were being questioned.
The cultural institution, which was created in 1919, contains the significant archaeological collection in the country.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from historical site, where indications of the earliest complete alphabet was discovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD classical statues from the ancient city, one of the most important ancient sites of the ancient world; and a ancient Jewish temple that was built at another archaeological site.
The institution was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, one year after the outbreak of the internal strife. A large portion of the holdings was evacuated and kept at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.
It partially resumed in recent years and returned to normal in early this year, four weeks after insurgents removed the Assad regime.
Every one of the country's cultural landmarks were harmed or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.
The Islamic State group destroyed multiple ancient buildings and historical sites at the archaeological site, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities condemned the damage as a war crime.
Countless cultural items were also lost or looted from historical locations and collections.
