🔗 Share this article Ancient Statues Stolen from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus The National Museum resumed complete operations in January of 2025, four weeks after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. Historic statues and cultural objects have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, sources confirm. The robbery was noticed on the start of the week, when employees reportedly found that one of the museum's doors had been forced from the inside. The six taken statues were crafted from marble and dated back to the ancient Roman times, an authority told the media outlet. The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to determine the "details surrounding the loss of a group of artifacts", and that actions had been implemented to enhance safeguarding and monitoring systems. The director of domestic security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the state-run Sana news agency as declaring that authorities were probing the robbery, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles". He added that museum protectors at the museum and other individuals were being interrogated. The cultural institution, which was founded in the early twentieth century, houses the primary archaeological collection in the country. It contains ancient inscribed tablets dating back to the ancient era from historical site, where proof of the earliest linguistic system was uncovered; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, among the foremost cultural centres of the historical period; and a ancient religious building that was built at another archaeological site. The facility was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, one year after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. Most of the holdings was evacuated and preserved at secure places to protect them. It partially resumed in 2018 and returned to normal in early this year, a month after opposition groups overthrew the Assad regime. Each of the six of the country's cultural landmarks were affected or significantly impacted during the conflict. The IS organization blew up several ancient buildings and historical sites at Palmyra, claiming that they were un-Islamic. Unesco censured the destruction as a war crime. Many historical objects were also damaged or looted from dig sites and collections.