Valuable Artifacts Stolen from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable artifacts and cultural objects have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, sources confirm.
The robbery was found on Monday, when museum workers apparently found that one of the museum's doors had been broken from the inside.
The multiple missing statues were marble creations and dated back to the Roman period, one official stated to the news agency.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to establish the "details surrounding the loss of a collection of exhibits", and that steps had been implemented to strengthen security and observation methods.
The head of national security in the Damascus region, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as saying that law enforcement were investigating the incident, which he said had focused on several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles".
He noted that museum protectors at the institution and other individuals were being interviewed.
The National Museum, which was created in the early twentieth century, contains the significant cultural treasures in Syria.
It contains ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where proof of the most ancient complete alphabet was uncovered; early centuries CE classical statues from Palmyra, among the foremost ancient sites of the classical era; and a ancient religious building that was built at an ancient location.
The facility was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, a year after the beginning of the destructive conflict. Most of the artifacts was evacuated and kept at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.
It began limited operations in recent years and completely reopened in the beginning of the year, four weeks after insurgents deposed the Assad regime.
Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.
The Islamic State group blew up several temples and other structures at Palmyra, asserting that they were against their beliefs. Unesco denounced the destruction as a atrocity.
Many cultural items were also destroyed or taken from archaeological sites and museums.
