Valuable Statues Taken from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Ancient statues and additional items have been taken from Syria's National Museum in the capital, authorities report.
The burglary was noticed on Monday, when employees apparently found that an entrance had been forced from the inside.
The multiple taken statues were made of marble and dated back to the ancient Roman times, one official told the Associated Press.
Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had opened an investigation to establish the "details surrounding the disappearance of a number of exhibits", and that steps had been implemented to strengthen safeguarding and observation methods.
The director of internal security in the capital area, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the government press as saying that law enforcement were probing the robbery, which he said had targeted several "historical artifacts and valuable objects".
He noted that guards at the museum and other persons were being interrogated.
The National Museum, which was founded in the early twentieth century, holds the significant cultural treasures in the country.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets originating to the Bronze Age from historical site, where indications of the most ancient complete alphabet was discovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD classical statues from historical site, one of the most important ancient sites of the historical period; and a ancient religious building that was built at Dura Europos.
The facility was forced to close in 2012, twelve months after the beginning of the internal strife. The majority of the artifacts was transferred and stored at secret locations to safeguard them.
It partially resumed in recent years and returned to normal in early this year, a month after insurgents deposed the Assad regime.
Every one of nationally recognized sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the conflict.
The militant faction demolished multiple religious structures and historical sites at Palmyra, asserting that they were un-Islamic. International authorities denounced the demolition as a war crime.
Numerous historical objects were also destroyed or stolen from historical locations and cultural institutions.