🔗 Share this article Historic Statues Removed from the National Museum Located in Damascus The Damascus Museum resumed complete operations in the first month of this year, a month after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. Valuable sculptures and cultural objects have been taken from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, officials say. The burglary was noticed on the start of the week, when employees allegedly found that a doorway had been broken from the inside. The half-dozen taken sculptures were crafted from marble and traced back to the ancient Roman times, an authority told the media outlet. Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had launched a probe to determine the "events surrounding the loss of a number of items", and that measures had been implemented to strengthen safeguarding and monitoring systems. The head of national security in Damascus province, Security Chief Atkeh, was cited by the official media as saying that security forces were probing the incident, which he said had affected several "archaeological statues and rare collectibles". He continued that museum protectors at the facility and additional people were being interrogated. The National Museum, which was created in 1919, holds the primary historical artifacts in the country. It contains clay cuneiform tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from historical site, where proof of the oldest known linguistic system was uncovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD classical statues from Palmyra, among the foremost ancient sites of the historical period; and a third century religious building that was established at Dura Europos. The facility was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, twelve months after the start of the internal strife. The majority of the holdings was transferred and stored at secure places to ensure their safety. It reopened partially in recent years and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, four weeks after rebel forces overthrew President Bashar al-Assad. All six of nationally recognized sites were damaged or partly ruined during the internal struggle. The IS organization destroyed several religious structures and other structures at the ancient city, asserting that they were against their beliefs. Unesco condemned the demolition as a violation. Countless cultural items were also destroyed or looted from archaeological sites and museums.