Valuable Statues Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Historic statues and other artefacts have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, officials say.
The theft was found on Monday, when museum workers allegedly found that a doorway had been broken from the inside.
The half-dozen missing statues were made of marble and dated back to the Roman period, a source told the media outlet.
Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to determine the "details surrounding the loss of a group of exhibits", and that measures had been implemented to enhance safeguarding and observation methods.
The director of internal security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had focused on several "historical artifacts and valuable objects".
He added that museum protectors at the museum and additional people were being interviewed.
The Damascus Museum, which was established in the early twentieth century, holds the most important cultural treasures in the country.
It contains clay cuneiform tablets dating back to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where indications of the oldest known linguistic system was found; Greco-Roman period classical statues from historical site, a significant cultural centres of the classical era; and a ancient Jewish temple that was constructed at Dura Europos.
The museum was had to cease operations in 2012, one year after the outbreak of the internal strife. A large portion of the holdings was evacuated and stored at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.
It partially resumed in recent years and resumed full operations in January 2025, one month after opposition groups deposed the Assad regime.
Every one of nationally recognized sites were damaged or partly ruined during the internal struggle.
The IS organization demolished multiple ancient buildings and other structures at the archaeological site, claiming that they were idolatrous. Unesco condemned the damage as a atrocity.
Countless cultural items were also damaged or stolen from archaeological sites and museums.
