Historic Artifacts Removed from the National Museum in Damascus
Valuable artifacts and other artefacts have been removed from Syria's National Museum in the capital, authorities report.
The robbery was found on Monday, when employees apparently found that an entrance had been damaged from the inside.
The multiple taken sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman era, a source told the Associated Press.
Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had opened an investigation to identify the "events surrounding the theft of a number of exhibits", and that measures had been taken to improve security and observation methods.
The head of national security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as saying that law enforcement were investigating the robbery, which he said had affected several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".
He continued that museum protectors at the facility and other persons were being interrogated.
The National Museum, which was established in the early twentieth century, houses the most important archaeological collection in Syria.
It contains clay cuneiform tablets originating to the Bronze Age from Ugarit, where proof of the oldest known complete alphabet was found; Greco-Roman period classical statues from the ancient city, one of the most important historical locations of the classical era; and a third century synagogue that was constructed at Dura Europos.
The museum was forced to close in the early 2010s, one year after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. A large portion of the artifacts was transferred and preserved at secret locations to ensure their safety.
It reopened partially in 2018 and completely reopened in the beginning of the year, a month after rebel forces overthrew Syria's former leader.
All six of nationally recognized sites were affected or partly ruined during the civil war.
The militant faction blew up numerous ancient buildings and additional edifices at the ancient city, claiming that they were un-Islamic. International authorities censured the destruction as a atrocity.
Numerous historical objects were also lost or looted from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.
