Ancient Statues Stolen from the National Museum in Damascus
Historic statues and other artefacts have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.
The burglary was discovered on the start of the week, when museum workers reportedly found that a doorway had been damaged from the interior.
The six taken pieces were marble creations and originated to the ancient Roman times, a source told the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had initiated an inquiry to identify the "events surrounding the loss of a group of artifacts", and that actions had been taken to improve safeguarding and monitoring systems.
The chief of domestic security in the Damascus region, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as saying that authorities were examining the theft, which he said had focused on several "historical artifacts and unique items".
He noted that museum protectors at the museum and additional people were being interrogated.
The National Museum, which was established in 1919, holds the significant historical artifacts in the country.
It contains clay cuneiform tablets dating back to the Bronze Age from historical site, where evidence of the oldest known writing system was discovered; early centuries CE classical statues from Palmyra, one of the most important cultural centres of the historical period; and a third century Jewish temple that was established at another archaeological site.
The facility was had to cease operations in 2012, one year after the outbreak of the internal strife. The majority of the collection was removed and stored at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.
It began limited operations in 2018 and returned to normal in early this year, one month after insurgents removed President Bashar al-Assad.
All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were affected or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.
The IS organization blew up multiple ancient buildings and additional edifices at Palmyra, asserting that they were idolatrous. Unesco condemned the destruction as a war crime.
Countless artefacts were also lost or taken from historical locations and collections.
