🔗 Share this article

Ancient artifacts and additional items have been removed from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, sources confirm.

The robbery was found on the start of the week, when museum workers allegedly found that one of the museum's doors had been damaged from the inside.

The half-dozen missing sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman period, one official told the Associated Press.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had initiated an inquiry to determine the "events surrounding the disappearance of a group of artifacts", and that measures had been taken to strengthen security and observation methods.

The chief of national security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the government press as declaring that law enforcement were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and unique items".

He continued that guards at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.

The cultural institution, which was established in 1919, contains the most important archaeological collection in Syria.

It contains ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the 14th Century BC from historical site, where proof of the earliest linguistic system was found; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from historical site, a significant historical locations of the historical period; and a third century synagogue that was established at Dura Europos.

The facility was forced to close in 2012, one year after the beginning of the internal strife. The majority of the artifacts was transferred and stored at secure places to protect them.

It began limited operations in 2018 and resumed full operations in early this year, one month after rebel forces deposed President Bashar al-Assad.

Every one of the country's cultural landmarks were harmed or partially destroyed during the civil war.

The militant faction destroyed several ancient buildings and other structures at Palmyra, asserting that they were against their beliefs. Unesco denounced the demolition as a war crime.

Many historical objects were also damaged or taken from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.