Ancient Statues Stolen from the National Museum in Damascus

Historic statues and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.

The robbery was noticed on the start of the week, when museum workers allegedly found that a doorway had been forced from the interior.

The half-dozen taken pieces were made of marble and traced back to the Roman period, one official stated to the Associated Press.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to determine the "events surrounding the disappearance of a number of exhibits", and that measures had been implemented to enhance safeguarding and surveillance.

The chief of national security in the Damascus region, General Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as saying that security forces were examining the incident, which he said had targeted several "historical artifacts and valuable objects".

He noted that guards at the museum and additional people were being interviewed.

The cultural institution, which was created in the early twentieth century, holds the most important historical artifacts in Syria.

It includes ancient inscribed tablets originating to the Bronze Age from an ancient city, where indications of the oldest known complete alphabet was found; Greco-Roman period ancient art from historical site, one of the most important cultural centres of the historical period; and a ancient Jewish temple that was built at Dura Europos.

The institution was forced to close in the early 2010s, one year after the start of the destructive conflict. Most of the artifacts was evacuated and stored at secret locations to safeguard them.

It began limited operations in 2018 and completely reopened in early this year, a month after rebel forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad.

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

The Islamic State group blew up multiple ancient buildings and additional edifices at Palmyra, claiming that they were idolatrous. Unesco condemned the destruction as a violation.

Many cultural items were also damaged or stolen from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.