Historic Artifacts Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus

Valuable artifacts and additional items have been taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, authorities report.

The theft was noticed on the start of the week, when employees allegedly found that a doorway had been broken from the interior.

The multiple stolen pieces were crafted from marble and traced back to the ancient Roman times, one official told the news agency.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to determine the "details surrounding the disappearance of a collection of exhibits", and that actions had been enacted to strengthen protection and surveillance.

The chief of internal security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as saying that authorities were examining the theft, which he said had targeted several "ancient sculptures and valuable objects".

He continued that security personnel at the facility and additional people were being interrogated.

The Damascus Museum, which was founded in the early twentieth century, contains the significant cultural treasures in the country.

It includes ancient inscribed tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where indications of the oldest known complete alphabet was uncovered; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from historical site, one of the most important ancient sites of the classical era; and a 3rd Century AD Jewish temple that was built at an ancient location.

The museum was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, one year after the beginning of the internal strife. The majority of the holdings was evacuated and preserved at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It reopened partially in recent years and resumed full operations in early this year, four weeks after insurgents removed the Assad regime.

Every one of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partially destroyed during the civil war.

The militant faction destroyed multiple ancient buildings and historical sites at the ancient city, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities censured the destruction as a violation.

Numerous historical objects were also damaged or looted from dig sites and museums.