Ancient Sculptures Stolen from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable artifacts and additional items have been stolen from Syria's National Museum in the capital, officials say.
The theft was discovered on Monday, when museum workers allegedly found that an entrance had been damaged from the interior.
The half-dozen taken sculptures were crafted from marble and dated back to the Roman period, a source stated to the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had initiated an inquiry to identify the "events surrounding the disappearance of a number of items", and that measures had been enacted to improve safeguarding and monitoring systems.
The chief of internal security in the capital area, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the official media as stating that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had targeted several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles".
He added that museum protectors at the museum and other persons were being interrogated.
The cultural institution, which was founded in 1919, holds the primary archaeological collection in Syria.
It contains clay cuneiform tablets originating to the Bronze Age from an ancient city, where evidence of the most ancient complete alphabet was discovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, among the foremost historical locations of the historical period; and a ancient Jewish temple that was built at an ancient location.
The museum was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, one year after the beginning of the devastating civil war. Most of the holdings was transferred and kept at secret locations to safeguard them.
It partially resumed in recent years and resumed full operations in January 2025, four weeks after insurgents removed President Bashar al-Assad.
Every one of nationally recognized sites were harmed or partially destroyed during the civil war.
The militant faction destroyed multiple temples and additional edifices at Palmyra, stating that they were against their beliefs. International authorities condemned the demolition as a violation.
Countless cultural items were also lost or stolen from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.
