Ancient Artifacts Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Ancient statues and additional items have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, sources confirm.
The burglary was discovered on Monday, when employees apparently found that a doorway had been damaged from the interior.
The half-dozen missing pieces were marble creations and traced back to the ancient Roman times, an authority stated to the Associated Press.
Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to establish the "events surrounding the theft of a number of items", and that measures had been enacted to improve safeguarding and surveillance.
The head of domestic security in the Damascus region, General Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that law enforcement were examining the incident, which he said had targeted several "archaeological statues and unique items".
He continued that security personnel at the facility and other individuals were being interrogated.
The Damascus Museum, which was established in the early twentieth century, contains the significant historical artifacts in the country.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where indications of the earliest linguistic system was uncovered; Greco-Roman period Greco-Roman sculptures from the ancient city, a significant historical locations of the ancient world; and a ancient synagogue that was established at another archaeological site.
The institution was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, twelve months after the beginning of the destructive conflict. Most of the collection was removed and preserved at secret locations to protect them.
It began limited operations in 2018 and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, one month after insurgents removed the Assad regime.
Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were affected or significantly impacted during the civil war.
The militant faction demolished several religious structures and other structures at Palmyra, stating that they were idolatrous. Unesco denounced the damage as a violation.
Countless cultural items were also destroyed or looted from archaeological sites and museums.
