🔗 Share this article

Valuable statues and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.

The burglary was discovered on the start of the week, when museum workers apparently found that one of the museum's doors had been broken from the inside.

The multiple taken statues were crafted from marble and originated to the Roman era, an authority informed the media outlet.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to determine the "details surrounding the disappearance of a group of items", and that measures had been enacted to enhance safeguarding and surveillance.

The chief of national security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the government press as declaring that security forces were probing the theft, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles".

He noted that guards at the museum and additional people were being questioned.

The National Museum, which was created in 1919, houses the most important cultural treasures in the country.

It contains ancient inscribed tablets dating back to the Bronze Age from historical site, where indications of the most ancient linguistic system was discovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, one of the most important historical locations of the historical period; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was established at another archaeological site.

The institution was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, a year after the beginning of the destructive conflict. Most of the collection was removed and kept at secret locations to ensure their safety.

It began limited operations in recent years and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, one month after opposition groups deposed Syria's former leader.

Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or partly ruined during the conflict.

The militant faction blew up multiple religious structures and other structures at the archaeological site, asserting that they were idolatrous. The cultural organization censured the damage as a war crime.

Numerous cultural items were also lost or taken from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.