🔗 Share this article Historic Artifacts Removed from the National Museum Located in Damascus The Damascus Museum resumed complete operations in the first month of 2025, four weeks after the removal of the Assad government. Valuable statues and cultural objects have been taken from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report. The robbery was found on Monday, when employees allegedly found that a doorway had been damaged from the inside. The half-dozen missing pieces were made of marble and traced back to the Roman era, one official told the news agency. Syria's Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums said it had initiated an inquiry to identify the "details surrounding the loss of a number of exhibits", and that measures had been enacted to improve safeguarding and observation methods. The chief of domestic security in the capital area, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the state-run Sana news agency as stating that law enforcement were investigating the theft, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and rare collectibles". He noted that guards at the facility and additional people were being interrogated. The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, contains the significant cultural treasures in the country. It includes ancient inscribed tablets originating to the ancient era from historical site, where indications of the earliest linguistic system was discovered; early centuries CE classical statues from the ancient city, one of the most important historical locations of the historical period; and a third century religious building that was constructed at another archaeological site. The museum was had to cease operations in the early 2010s, twelve months after the start of the devastating civil war. A large portion of the artifacts was evacuated and preserved at secret locations to safeguard them. It began limited operations in 2018 and completely reopened in early this year, a month after opposition groups overthrew President Bashar al-Assad. All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or significantly impacted during the conflict. The IS organization blew up numerous religious structures and additional edifices at the archaeological site, stating that they were against their beliefs. The cultural organization condemned the destruction as a atrocity. Many cultural items were also lost or taken from dig sites and collections.