🔗 Share this article

Valuable statues and additional items have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, sources confirm.

The robbery was noticed on Monday, when museum workers allegedly found that an entrance had been forced from the inside.

The multiple taken statues were marble creations and traced back to the ancient Roman times, an authority stated to the news agency.

Cultural heritage officials said it had initiated an inquiry to establish the "events surrounding the disappearance of a number of artifacts", and that actions had been enacted to strengthen safeguarding and surveillance.

The director of internal security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the government press as declaring that authorities were examining the theft, which he said had focused on several "historical artifacts and rare collectibles".

He noted that security personnel at the institution and other persons were being interviewed.

The cultural institution, which was established in 1919, contains the significant historical artifacts in Syria.

It contains clay cuneiform tablets tracing back to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where proof of the most ancient complete alphabet was found; early centuries CE classical statues from historical site, among the foremost cultural centres of the ancient world; and a 3rd Century AD Jewish temple that was built at another archaeological site.

The institution was compelled to shut in 2012, one year after the start of the devastating civil war. A large portion of the collection was transferred and preserved at secure places to ensure their safety.

It began limited operations in recent years and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, a month after insurgents removed the Assad regime.

Each of the six of the country's cultural landmarks were affected or significantly impacted during the conflict.

The IS organization demolished several religious structures and other structures at Palmyra, asserting that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization denounced the damage as a atrocity.

Numerous artefacts were also damaged or taken from dig sites and cultural institutions.