🔗 Share this article Historic Sculptures Taken from Syria's National Museum Located in Damascus The National Museum reopened fully in the first month of this year, a month after the deposition of President Bashar al-Assad. Historic statues and additional items have been taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, authorities report. The robbery was found on Monday, when staff apparently found that an entrance had been damaged from the interior. The multiple missing pieces were marble creations and traced back to the Roman period, an authority informed the news agency. Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had initiated an inquiry to identify the "details surrounding the theft of a group of exhibits", and that measures had been implemented to strengthen safeguarding and monitoring systems. The head of domestic security in the capital area, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as stating that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "archaeological statues and rare collectibles". He continued that security personnel at the institution and other individuals were being interviewed. The National Museum, which was created in the early twentieth century, holds the significant cultural treasures in Syria. It contains clay cuneiform tablets dating back to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where proof of the earliest linguistic system was found; early centuries CE ancient art from Palmyra, a significant cultural centres of the classical era; and a third century Jewish temple that was established at another archaeological site. The museum was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, a year after the start of the internal strife. The majority of the holdings was removed and stored at secret locations to safeguard them. It reopened partially in recent years and resumed full operations in early this year, four weeks after rebel forces deposed the Assad regime. Each of the six of nationally recognized sites were harmed or partially destroyed during the civil war. The IS organization demolished numerous ancient buildings and historical sites at the archaeological site, claiming that they were un-Islamic. Unesco condemned the destruction as a war crime. Numerous historical objects were also destroyed or taken from dig sites and cultural institutions.