Valuable Sculptures Removed from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Ancient artifacts and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.
The theft was noticed on Monday, when employees reportedly found that one of the museum's doors had been forced from the interior.
The multiple missing sculptures were marble creations and originated to the Roman period, a source informed the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had initiated an inquiry to establish the "details surrounding the theft of a number of exhibits", and that steps had been taken to strengthen security and monitoring systems.
The chief of domestic security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the state-run Sana news agency as saying that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and unique items".
He added that museum protectors at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.
The Damascus Museum, which was created in 1919, holds the most important historical artifacts in the country.
It includes clay cuneiform tablets dating back to the Bronze Age from an ancient city, where evidence of the most ancient complete alphabet was uncovered; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, among the foremost ancient sites of the historical period; and a 3rd Century AD Jewish temple that was built at another archaeological site.
The museum was forced to close in the early 2010s, a year after the beginning of the internal strife. The majority of the artifacts was evacuated and stored at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.
It began limited operations in 2018 and completely reopened in January 2025, one month after opposition groups overthrew the Assad regime.
Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.
The IS organization blew up numerous ancient buildings and other structures at the archaeological site, claiming that they were un-Islamic. Unesco censured the demolition as a war crime.
Countless artefacts were also lost or taken from historical locations and cultural institutions.
