Ancient Statues Taken from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable statues and cultural objects have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, sources confirm.
The robbery was noticed on the start of the week, when museum workers apparently found that one of the museum's doors had been broken from the interior.
The half-dozen missing statues were marble creations and traced back to the ancient Roman times, one official informed the media outlet.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had initiated an inquiry to identify the "details surrounding the disappearance of a number of items", and that actions had been enacted to strengthen protection and observation methods.
The chief of national security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that security forces were investigating the robbery, which he said had focused on several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".
He continued that security personnel at the facility and additional people were being interviewed.
The cultural institution, which was founded in 1919, houses the significant archaeological collection in Syria.
It contains ancient inscribed tablets dating back to the Bronze Age from Ugarit, where evidence of the most ancient linguistic system was discovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD classical statues from the ancient city, one of the most important ancient sites of the historical period; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was built at another archaeological site.
The institution was had to cease operations in 2012, one year after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. Most of the collection was transferred and preserved at secure places to safeguard them.
It partially resumed in recent years and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, four weeks after opposition groups overthrew the Assad regime.
Each of the six of nationally recognized sites were damaged or partly ruined during the internal struggle.
The IS organization destroyed multiple temples and additional edifices at the archaeological site, claiming that they were idolatrous. Unesco censured the destruction as a atrocity.
Countless historical objects were also destroyed or stolen from dig sites and collections.
