Valuable Sculptures Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Ancient statues and additional items have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, officials say.
The robbery was found on the start of the week, when museum workers apparently found that an entrance had been damaged from the inside.
The six taken pieces were marble creations and dated back to the Roman period, a source informed the media outlet.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to establish the "details surrounding the disappearance of a collection of artifacts", and that measures had been implemented to strengthen security and monitoring systems.
The head of national security in the capital area, Security Chief Atkeh, was quoted by the state-run Sana news agency as saying that law enforcement were investigating the theft, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and rare collectibles".
He continued that museum protectors at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.
The National Museum, which was created in the early twentieth century, houses the significant historical artifacts in the country.
It features historical records dating back to the 14th Century BC from historical site, where indications of the most ancient complete alphabet was uncovered; Greco-Roman period classical statues from Palmyra, among the foremost cultural centres of the historical period; and a third century religious building that was established at another archaeological site.
The museum was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, twelve months after the start of the internal strife. A large portion of the collection was evacuated and stored at secret locations to safeguard them.
It partially resumed in 2018 and completely reopened in January 2025, a month after opposition groups removed Syria's former leader.
Every one of nationally recognized sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the conflict.
The IS organization demolished multiple religious structures and additional edifices at Palmyra, claiming that they were against their beliefs. Unesco condemned the destruction as a war crime.
Countless artefacts were also lost or taken from archaeological sites and collections.
