Historic Statues Stolen from the National Museum in Damascus
Historic statues and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, officials say.
The theft was discovered on Monday, when museum workers apparently found that one of the museum's doors had been forced from the interior.
The half-dozen taken sculptures were marble creations and originated to the Roman era, a source stated to the media outlet.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had initiated an inquiry to identify the "events surrounding the disappearance of a collection of exhibits", and that actions had been enacted to strengthen protection and monitoring systems.
The head of national security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the government press as stating that law enforcement were examining the incident, which he said had targeted several "ancient sculptures and valuable objects".
He noted that security personnel at the institution and other persons were being questioned.
The National Museum, which was founded in 1919, holds the significant historical artifacts in Syria.
It contains clay cuneiform tablets dating back to the Bronze Age from Ugarit, where proof of the earliest complete alphabet was discovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from historical site, one of the most important ancient sites of the ancient world; and a 3rd Century AD religious building that was constructed at Dura Europos.
The museum was compelled to shut in 2012, twelve months after the start of the internal strife. Most of the holdings was transferred and stored at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.
It partially resumed in 2018 and resumed full operations in January 2025, four weeks after opposition groups deposed Syria's former leader.
Each of the six of the country's cultural landmarks were affected or partly ruined during the conflict.
The IS organization demolished several temples and additional edifices at the archaeological site, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities censured the destruction as a atrocity.
Countless cultural items were also lost or looted from historical locations and cultural institutions.
