Historic Artifacts Taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus

Historic artifacts and cultural objects have been removed from Syria's National Museum in the capital, authorities report.

The robbery was found on the start of the week, when staff allegedly found that one of the museum's doors had been damaged from the inside.

The half-dozen stolen sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the ancient Roman times, a source informed the Associated Press.

Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to establish the "events surrounding the loss of a collection of artifacts", and that measures had been taken to improve protection and monitoring systems.

The chief of domestic security in Damascus province, Security Chief Atkeh, was cited by the government press as stating that security forces were probing the robbery, which he said had focused on several "historical artifacts and unique items".

He continued that museum protectors at the institution and other persons were being interrogated.

The Damascus Museum, which was established in 1919, houses the most important archaeological collection in the country.

It contains ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the ancient era from historical site, where indications of the oldest known complete alphabet was uncovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD classical statues from historical site, one of the most important ancient sites of the historical period; and a ancient synagogue that was constructed at another archaeological site.

The facility was forced to close in 2012, twelve months after the beginning of the devastating civil war. Most of the artifacts was removed and kept at secure places to safeguard them.

It began limited operations in 2018 and returned to normal in the beginning of the year, a month after insurgents removed the Assad regime.

Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were affected or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.

The Islamic State group destroyed numerous ancient buildings and additional edifices at Palmyra, claiming that they were idolatrous. International authorities denounced the damage as a violation.

Many cultural items were also destroyed or stolen from archaeological sites and collections.