Historic Artifacts Removed from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Historic statues and additional items have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, sources confirm.
The theft was found on Monday, when staff allegedly found that a doorway had been damaged from the inside.
The six taken statues were marble creations and dated back to the ancient Roman times, a source told the Associated Press.
Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to determine the "circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a number of artifacts", and that steps had been enacted to strengthen safeguarding and monitoring systems.
The head of national security in the capital area, General Osama Atkeh, was cited by the official media as saying that law enforcement were investigating the robbery, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and rare collectibles".
He continued that security personnel at the museum and other individuals were being interrogated.
The cultural institution, which was founded in 1919, holds the most important archaeological collection in the country.
It features historical records dating back to the Bronze Age from an ancient city, where evidence of the most ancient linguistic system was found; Greco-Roman period ancient art from historical site, among the foremost historical locations of the classical era; and a third century Jewish temple that was constructed at Dura Europos.
The facility was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, a year after the start of the internal strife. The majority of the artifacts was evacuated and kept at undisclosed sites to protect them.
It reopened partially in 2018 and returned to normal in early this year, four weeks after rebel forces removed the Assad regime.
Every one of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.
The IS organization destroyed numerous ancient buildings and additional edifices at the archaeological site, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities censured the damage as a war crime.
Many cultural items were also lost or taken from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.
