🔗 Share this article

Historic statues and additional items have been stolen from Syria's National Museum in the capital, authorities report.

The theft was noticed on Monday, when employees apparently found that an entrance had been damaged from the inside.

The multiple taken statues were marble creations and traced back to the ancient Roman times, a source stated to the media outlet.

Cultural heritage officials said it had opened an investigation to determine the "circumstances surrounding the loss of a group of exhibits", and that measures had been taken to improve security and surveillance.

The head of national security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the government press as saying that security forces were probing the robbery, which he said had targeted several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".

He added that guards at the museum and other individuals were being interviewed.

The Damascus Museum, which was established in 1919, holds the significant cultural treasures in the country.

It contains clay cuneiform tablets dating back to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where indications of the oldest known complete alphabet was found; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from historical site, one of the most important historical locations of the ancient world; and a ancient Jewish temple that was built at Dura Europos.

The museum was forced to close in the early 2010s, a year after the start of the devastating civil war. The majority of the collection was transferred and kept at secret locations to ensure their safety.

It began limited operations in 2018 and completely reopened in January 2025, one month after opposition groups overthrew President Bashar al-Assad.

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

The militant faction destroyed numerous temples and historical sites at the ancient city, claiming that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization denounced the demolition as a war crime.

Numerous artefacts were also damaged or taken from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.