DAMASCUS — Syria’s National Museum in the capital was temporarily closed on Monday after thieves broke in overnight and stole several ancient statues dating to the Roman era, officials said.
An official with the Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums told The Associated Press that six marble statues were taken and that an investigation is in progress. A second official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal government statement has been issued, said the break-in was discovered early Monday when staff found a door to the classical department forced open and multiple pieces missing.
Security guards on Tuesday turned away visitors, confirming only that the country’s largest museum was closed. The National Museum of Damascus had reopened on January 8, one month after rebels ousted President Bashar Assad, as Syria attempts to stabilize following a 14-year civil war and the end of the family’s 54-year rule.
Located in central Damascus, the museum houses invaluable antiquities spanning millennia of Syrian history. After the war began in 2011, authorities transferred hundreds of prized objects from across the country— including from the UNESCO-listed site of Palmyra—into the capital for safekeeping, while reinforcing the museum with metal gates and surveillance cameras.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, former head of the antiquities authority, called the targeted galleries “a beautiful and
