🔗 Share this article Valuable Artifacts Stolen from the National Museum Located in Damascus The Damascus Museum resumed complete operations in January of 2025, four weeks after the overthrow of Syria's former leader. Ancient sculptures and additional items have been stolen from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, officials say. The theft was noticed on Monday, when employees allegedly found that one of the museum's doors had been damaged from the interior. The half-dozen taken sculptures were marble creations and dated back to the ancient Roman times, an authority told the media outlet. Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had initiated an inquiry to identify the "circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a collection of items", and that actions had been implemented to enhance security and monitoring systems. The director of internal security in the capital area, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as declaring that law enforcement were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and valuable objects". He added that museum protectors at the museum and additional people were being interrogated. The National Museum, which was established in 1919, houses the significant historical artifacts in Syria. It features ancient inscribed tablets originating to the Bronze Age from an ancient city, where indications of the earliest linguistic system was uncovered; Greco-Roman period classical statues from the ancient city, among the foremost ancient sites of the classical era; and a third century synagogue that was established at another archaeological site. The museum was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, twelve months after the start of the destructive conflict. A large portion of the artifacts was removed and stored at secret locations to safeguard them. It partially resumed in 2018 and completely reopened in the beginning of the year, one month after insurgents overthrew President Bashar al-Assad. Every one of the country's cultural landmarks were damaged or significantly impacted during the civil war. The militant faction demolished numerous temples and historical sites at the ancient city, asserting that they were idolatrous. International authorities censured the damage as a atrocity. Numerous historical objects were also destroyed or looted from dig sites and museums.