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Historic statues and additional items have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in Damascus, sources confirm.

The burglary was discovered on the start of the week, when museum workers apparently found that a doorway had been forced from the inside.

The multiple stolen statues were crafted from marble and traced back to the Roman period, an authority told the media outlet.

Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to identify the "events surrounding the disappearance of a number of items", and that measures had been enacted to improve protection and surveillance.

The director of national security in the Damascus region, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the state-run Sana news agency as stating that authorities were examining the incident, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and valuable objects".

He noted that security personnel at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.

The National Museum, which was founded in the early twentieth century, houses the primary historical artifacts in the country.

It features historical records dating back to the 14th Century BC from historical site, where evidence of the earliest complete alphabet was found; early centuries CE Greco-Roman sculptures from historical site, among the foremost cultural centres of the ancient world; and a third century synagogue that was constructed at an ancient location.

The facility was forced to close in 2012, a year after the start of the destructive conflict. The majority of the artifacts was transferred and kept at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It partially resumed in recent years and completely reopened in January 2025, one month after opposition groups removed President Bashar al-Assad.

All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were affected or significantly impacted during the civil war.

The militant faction demolished multiple ancient buildings and historical sites at the archaeological site, claiming that they were idolatrous. Unesco censured the damage as a war crime.

Countless historical objects were also damaged or taken from archaeological sites and museums.