Valuable Statues Taken from the National Museum in Damascus

Valuable statues and other artefacts have been taken from Syria's National Museum in the capital, sources confirm.

The robbery was found on the start of the week, when staff reportedly found that an entrance had been damaged from the interior.

The multiple stolen statues were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman period, one official informed the Associated Press.

Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had initiated an inquiry to determine the "events surrounding the theft of a group of exhibits", and that actions had been taken to strengthen security and monitoring systems.

The chief of national security in the capital area, General Osama Atkeh, was cited by the government press as declaring that authorities were examining the robbery, which he said had focused on several "archaeological statues and unique items".

He noted that security personnel at the museum and other persons were being interrogated.

The cultural institution, which was established in the early twentieth century, contains the most important historical artifacts in the country.

It includes historical records originating to the ancient era from an ancient city, where evidence of the earliest writing system was discovered; Greco-Roman period ancient art from historical site, among the foremost cultural centres of the ancient world; and a third century synagogue that was constructed at Dura Europos.

The facility was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, twelve months after the outbreak of the internal strife. The majority of the artifacts was removed and kept at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It reopened partially in recent years and returned to normal in early this year, a month after insurgents removed the Assad regime.

Every one of nationally recognized sites were harmed or partially destroyed during the civil war.

The Islamic State group destroyed multiple ancient buildings and other structures at the archaeological site, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities condemned the damage as a atrocity.

Many historical objects were also damaged or stolen from historical locations and museums.