Valuable Sculptures Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Historic sculptures and other artefacts have been removed from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, sources confirm.
The robbery was noticed on Monday, when museum workers reportedly found that a doorway had been damaged from the inside.
The multiple taken pieces were made of marble and originated to the Roman era, an authority stated to the news agency.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to determine the "circumstances surrounding the theft of a collection of exhibits", and that measures had been implemented to strengthen security and monitoring systems.
The director of domestic security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as saying that security forces were probing the robbery, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and unique items".
He noted that security personnel at the institution and other persons were being questioned.
The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, holds the most important archaeological collection in the country.
It contains clay cuneiform tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where proof of the earliest writing system was found; Greco-Roman period classical statues from Palmyra, a significant historical locations of the historical period; and a third century religious building that was constructed at Dura Europos.
The museum was forced to close in 2012, a year after the beginning of the internal strife. Most of the artifacts was evacuated and stored at secret locations to ensure their safety.
It began limited operations in 2018 and returned to normal in the beginning of the year, a month after opposition groups removed the Assad regime.
Every one of the country's cultural landmarks were affected or partially destroyed during the conflict.
The Islamic State group blew up multiple ancient buildings and additional edifices at Palmyra, asserting that they were against their beliefs. The cultural organization censured the damage as a atrocity.
Many cultural items were also destroyed or looted from historical locations and cultural institutions.
