Historic Statues Taken from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus
Valuable sculptures and other artefacts have been taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, officials say.
The theft was discovered on Monday, when staff reportedly found that one of the museum's doors had been damaged from the inside.
The six missing pieces were made of marble and traced back to the Roman period, a source stated to the news agency.
The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to identify the "events surrounding the loss of a group of artifacts", and that measures had been implemented to improve security and monitoring systems.
The chief of domestic security in the capital area, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that law enforcement were probing the theft, which he said had affected several "archaeological statues and rare collectibles".
He added that museum protectors at the institution and other individuals were being interviewed.
The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, holds the primary archaeological collection in Syria.
It includes historical records dating back to the ancient era from Ugarit, where indications of the oldest known linguistic system was found; 1st and 2nd Century AD ancient art from Palmyra, one of the most important cultural centres of the classical era; and a third century synagogue that was built at an ancient location.
The institution was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, twelve months after the outbreak of the destructive conflict. The majority of the artifacts was removed and kept at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.
It partially resumed in 2018 and completely reopened in January 2025, four weeks after opposition groups removed Syria's former leader.
Every one of nationally recognized sites were affected or significantly impacted during the internal struggle.
The militant faction destroyed multiple religious structures and other structures at the ancient city, claiming that they were un-Islamic. Unesco censured the demolition as a atrocity.
Numerous historical objects were also lost or looted from historical locations and museums.
