Valuable Statues Removed from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable sculptures and other artefacts have been taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, sources confirm.
The burglary was found on the start of the week, when museum workers allegedly found that a doorway had been forced from the inside.
The multiple stolen pieces were marble creations and dated back to the Roman period, one official stated to the Associated Press.
Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had initiated an inquiry to establish the "circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a number of artifacts", and that actions had been implemented to enhance safeguarding and monitoring systems.
The head of internal security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the government press as saying that security forces were examining the robbery, which he said had focused on several "historical artifacts and valuable objects".
He continued that security personnel at the facility and additional people were being interrogated.
The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, contains the primary archaeological collection in Syria.
It features clay cuneiform tablets originating to the ancient era from an ancient city, where proof of the most ancient writing system was found; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, a significant cultural centres of the ancient world; and a ancient religious building that was built at Dura Europos.
The institution was had to cease operations in 2012, twelve months after the start of the destructive conflict. Most of the collection was transferred and preserved at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.
It began limited operations in 2018 and returned to normal in January 2025, four weeks after rebel forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad.
Every one of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partly ruined during the conflict.
The Islamic State group blew up multiple religious structures and other structures at the archaeological site, asserting that they were un-Islamic. International authorities censured the damage as a violation.
Numerous artefacts were also lost or taken from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.
