🔗 Share this article

Ancient artifacts and additional items have been stolen from Syria's National Museum in the capital, authorities report.

The theft was discovered on the start of the week, when employees apparently found that a doorway had been broken from the interior.

The half-dozen missing sculptures were made of marble and traced back to the ancient Roman times, an authority informed the Associated Press.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to identify the "details surrounding the disappearance of a number of artifacts", and that measures had been taken to strengthen safeguarding and surveillance.

The head of domestic security in the Damascus region, Security Chief Atkeh, was quoted by the official media as saying that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had focused on several "archaeological statues and rare collectibles".

He added that guards at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.

The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, holds the significant archaeological collection in Syria.

It features historical records dating back to the Bronze Age from Ugarit, where evidence of the most ancient linguistic system was found; Greco-Roman period classical statues from historical site, among the foremost ancient sites of the historical period; and a ancient Jewish temple that was established at an ancient location.

The facility was forced to close in the early 2010s, one year after the outbreak of the internal strife. Most of the holdings was removed and stored at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It partially resumed in 2018 and resumed full operations in early this year, one month after insurgents overthrew Syria's former leader.

All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.

The Islamic State group destroyed numerous temples and additional edifices at the archaeological site, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities censured the destruction as a violation.

Numerous historical objects were also lost or taken from archaeological sites and collections.