🔗 Share this article

Ancient statues and cultural objects have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, officials say.

The burglary was noticed on Monday, when museum workers reportedly found that an entrance had been forced from the interior.

The six taken sculptures were made of marble and dated back to the ancient Roman times, a source told the news agency.

Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had opened an investigation to determine the "details surrounding the theft of a group of artifacts", and that measures had been implemented to improve protection and observation methods.

The director of domestic security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the official media as stating that authorities were examining the robbery, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and unique items".

He added that security personnel at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.

The Damascus Museum, which was established in the early twentieth century, contains the primary archaeological collection in Syria.

It features ancient inscribed tablets dating back to the Bronze Age from an ancient city, where indications of the oldest known writing system was uncovered; early centuries CE classical statues from the ancient city, a significant cultural centres of the historical period; and a ancient Jewish temple that was built at Dura Europos.

The institution was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, a year after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. Most of the holdings was evacuated and stored at secret locations to safeguard them.

It began limited operations in 2018 and resumed full operations in January 2025, a month after rebel forces overthrew the Assad regime.

Each of the six of nationally recognized sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the conflict.

The IS organization blew up multiple ancient buildings and historical sites at the ancient city, claiming that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization censured the demolition as a war crime.

Many artefacts were also lost or stolen from archaeological sites and museums.