Historic Statues Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Historic artifacts and other artefacts have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.
The theft was noticed on the start of the week, when employees allegedly found that one of the museum's doors had been forced from the inside.
The multiple taken statues were crafted from marble and dated back to the ancient Roman times, a source told the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had initiated an inquiry to establish the "events surrounding the disappearance of a collection of artifacts", and that measures had been enacted to enhance security and monitoring systems.
The head of national security in the Damascus region, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the government press as saying that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had focused on several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles".
He added that guards at the institution and other individuals were being questioned.
The Damascus Museum, which was established in the early twentieth century, contains the significant archaeological collection in Syria.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets tracing back to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where evidence of the oldest known complete alphabet was uncovered; Greco-Roman period classical statues from the ancient city, a significant cultural centres of the classical era; and a ancient Jewish temple that was built at an ancient location.
The museum was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, one year after the start of the devastating civil war. The majority of the artifacts was evacuated and stored at undisclosed sites to protect them.
It reopened partially in 2018 and returned to normal in early this year, a month after opposition groups overthrew President Bashar al-Assad.
Every one of nationally recognized sites were affected or significantly impacted during the civil war.
The Islamic State group demolished multiple religious structures and historical sites at the archaeological site, stating that they were un-Islamic. Unesco denounced the demolition as a violation.
Many cultural items were also lost or stolen from dig sites and cultural institutions.
