🔗 Share this article Historic Sculptures Taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus The National Museum reopened fully in January of 2025, a month after the deposition of President Bashar al-Assad. Valuable artifacts and other artefacts have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, sources confirm. The burglary was discovered on Monday, when museum workers reportedly found that one of the museum's doors had been broken from the inside. The multiple missing statues were made of marble and dated back to the Roman era, a source informed the media outlet. Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to establish the "events surrounding the disappearance of a number of exhibits", and that measures had been enacted to improve safeguarding and surveillance. The head of internal security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as declaring that authorities were probing the incident, which he said had targeted several "ancient sculptures and unique items". He added that security personnel at the institution and additional people were being interrogated. The Damascus Museum, which was founded in the early twentieth century, contains the primary archaeological collection in Syria. It features ancient inscribed tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from historical site, where evidence of the most ancient complete alphabet was discovered; Greco-Roman period ancient art from the ancient city, one of the most important ancient sites of the classical era; and a 3rd Century AD Jewish temple that was established at another archaeological site. The institution was forced to close in 2012, twelve months after the beginning of the destructive conflict. The majority of the collection was evacuated and kept at secret locations to ensure their safety. It partially resumed in 2018 and returned to normal in the beginning of the year, a month after rebel forces removed Syria's former leader. All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were affected or partly ruined during the conflict. The Islamic State group demolished several ancient buildings and other structures at the archaeological site, claiming that they were idolatrous. The cultural organization denounced the damage as a violation. Countless artefacts were also damaged or looted from archaeological sites and museums.