🔗 Share this article

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

The robbery was noticed on Monday, when staff reportedly found that a doorway had been damaged from the interior.

The six stolen statues were made of marble and originated to the ancient Roman times, a source stated to the Associated Press.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to identify the "circumstances surrounding the loss of a group of artifacts", and that measures had been taken to improve safeguarding and surveillance.

The head of national security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and unique items".

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

The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, holds the most important cultural treasures in Syria.

It contains ancient inscribed tablets dating back to the ancient era from an ancient city, where indications of the oldest known writing system was uncovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, among the foremost ancient sites of the ancient world; and a ancient synagogue that was constructed at Dura Europos.

The institution was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, one year after the beginning of the devastating civil war. Most of the holdings was evacuated and kept at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It began limited operations in 2018 and completely reopened in January 2025, one month after opposition groups deposed Syria's former leader.

All six of the country's cultural landmarks were damaged or significantly impacted during the civil war.

The militant faction blew up numerous religious structures and other structures at the archaeological site, stating that they were idolatrous. The cultural organization censured the damage as a atrocity.

Many historical objects were also lost or looted from archaeological sites and cultural institutions.