Valuable Statues Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus
Ancient sculptures and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, officials say.
The robbery was discovered on Monday, when staff allegedly found that an entrance had been forced from the inside.
The half-dozen missing sculptures were made of marble and dated back to the ancient Roman times, an authority informed the Associated Press.
Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to identify the "events surrounding the loss of a collection of items", and that measures had been taken to enhance protection and monitoring systems.
The head of national security in the Damascus region, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as saying that authorities were investigating the robbery, which he said had focused on several "historical artifacts and rare collectibles".
He noted that security personnel at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.
The Damascus Museum, which was founded in the early twentieth century, houses the significant historical artifacts in the country.
It contains ancient inscribed tablets originating to the ancient era from an ancient city, where evidence of the oldest known complete alphabet was discovered; Greco-Roman period Greco-Roman sculptures from historical site, one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world; and a third century synagogue that was established at Dura Europos.
The facility was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, one year after the outbreak of the destructive conflict. A large portion of the artifacts was transferred and preserved at undisclosed sites to protect them.
It partially resumed in 2018 and completely reopened in January 2025, a month after opposition groups removed the Assad regime.
Each of the six of the country's cultural landmarks were damaged or significantly impacted during the conflict.
The IS organization destroyed multiple temples and additional edifices at Palmyra, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities censured the damage as a violation.
Numerous cultural items were also lost or looted from historical locations and collections.
