Valuable Statues Taken from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable sculptures and other artefacts have been removed from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, sources confirm.
The theft was found on Monday, when employees allegedly found that an entrance had been broken from the inside.
The six missing pieces were made of marble and traced back to the ancient Roman times, an authority told the news agency.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to determine the "details surrounding the loss of a collection of exhibits", and that steps had been taken to improve security and monitoring systems.
The director of domestic security in the capital area, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that security forces were examining the robbery, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles".
He continued that museum protectors at the facility and other persons were being interrogated.
The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, houses the primary historical artifacts in Syria.
It includes ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the Bronze Age from historical site, where proof of the oldest known complete alphabet was found; Greco-Roman period ancient art from Palmyra, among the foremost historical locations of the historical period; and a 3rd Century AD Jewish temple that was constructed at an ancient location.
The institution was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, twelve months after the start of the destructive conflict. The majority of the holdings was evacuated and stored at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.
It began limited operations in 2018 and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, a month after rebel forces removed the Assad regime.
Every one of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or partly ruined during the civil war.
The IS organization blew up multiple temples and historical sites at the archaeological site, asserting that they were un-Islamic. International authorities censured the damage as a violation.
Numerous historical objects were also destroyed or stolen from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.
