Ancient Sculptures Stolen from Syria's National Museum in Damascus
Ancient sculptures and other artefacts have been taken from Syria's National Museum in the capital, officials say.
The burglary was discovered on the start of the week, when staff allegedly found that an entrance had been broken from the inside.
The six taken sculptures were marble creations and originated to the Roman era, a source informed the news agency.
Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to identify the "events surrounding the loss of a collection of artifacts", and that measures had been enacted to strengthen protection and monitoring systems.
The chief of internal security in Damascus province, Security Chief 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 "ancient sculptures and valuable objects".
He noted that guards at the museum and other persons were being interrogated.
The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, holds the significant cultural treasures in Syria.
It includes historical records tracing back to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where evidence of the most ancient writing system was found; early centuries CE ancient art from historical site, among the foremost historical locations of the ancient world; and a third century Jewish temple that was established at Dura Europos.
The facility was forced to close in the early 2010s, a year after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. Most of the artifacts was transferred and stored at undisclosed sites to protect them.
It began limited operations in recent years and completely reopened in early this year, four weeks after opposition groups overthrew Syria's former leader.
Each of the six of the country's cultural landmarks were damaged or significantly impacted during the internal struggle.
The IS organization demolished multiple temples and additional edifices at the archaeological site, claiming that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization denounced the demolition as a war crime.
Many cultural items were also destroyed or stolen from historical locations and cultural institutions.
