Valuable Sculptures Removed from Syria's National Museum in Damascus

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

The burglary was found on the start of the week, when employees apparently found that a doorway had been broken from the interior.

The multiple stolen pieces were marble creations and originated to the Roman period, an authority stated to the news agency.

Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to establish the "details surrounding the disappearance of a group of artifacts", and that measures had been taken to improve safeguarding and surveillance.

The head of domestic security in the capital area, Security Chief Atkeh, was quoted by the official media as saying that law enforcement were probing the incident, which he said had focused on several "ancient sculptures and unique items".

He continued that security personnel at the facility and other individuals were being questioned.

The National Museum, which was created in the early twentieth century, contains the primary historical artifacts in Syria.

It contains ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the Bronze Age from Ugarit, where indications of the oldest known complete alphabet was uncovered; Greco-Roman period classical statues from Palmyra, among the foremost historical locations of the ancient world; and a third century religious building that was established at another archaeological site.

The institution was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, a year after the beginning of the devastating civil war. A large portion of the holdings was evacuated and kept at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It reopened partially in recent years and returned to normal in early this year, one month after opposition groups overthrew the Assad regime.

Each of the six of nationally recognized sites were affected or partly ruined during the conflict.

The militant faction destroyed multiple religious structures and additional edifices at the archaeological site, asserting that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization censured the damage as a atrocity.

Numerous artefacts were also destroyed or looted from archaeological sites and collections.