Ancient Artifacts Stolen from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable artifacts and cultural objects have been removed from Syria's National Museum in the capital, authorities report.
The burglary was found on Monday, when staff reportedly found that a doorway had been damaged from the interior.
The multiple taken sculptures were marble creations and traced back to the Roman era, a source stated to the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to determine the "details surrounding the disappearance of a collection of artifacts", and that measures had been enacted to improve safeguarding and surveillance.
The chief of national security in the capital area, Security Chief Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as saying that authorities were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and valuable objects".
He noted that museum protectors at the facility and additional people were being questioned.
The National Museum, which was founded in 1919, holds the significant cultural treasures in the country.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets tracing back to the ancient era from Ugarit, where proof of the earliest linguistic system was found; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, a significant ancient sites of the ancient world; and a ancient synagogue that was constructed at another archaeological site.
The facility was forced to close in the early 2010s, twelve months after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. A large portion of the collection was transferred and kept at secret locations to ensure their safety.
It began limited operations in 2018 and completely reopened in the beginning of the year, a month after opposition groups deposed President Bashar al-Assad.
Each of the six of the country's cultural landmarks were affected or partly ruined during the conflict.
The IS organization demolished multiple temples and additional edifices at Palmyra, claiming that they were un-Islamic. Unesco censured the demolition as a war crime.
Numerous cultural items were also lost or taken from archaeological sites and collections.
