Syrian authorities have temporarily closed the national museum in Damascus and launched an investigation after thieves made off with several pieces, an official told AFP on Wednesday.
The robbery took place overnight Sunday to Monday in the so-called classical wing of the facility, which was spared during Syria’s civil war between 2011 and late last year and which houses priceless artefacts dating back to antiquity.
“Official investigations have begun and the museum will remain closed temporarily until the collection of evidence has finished,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
“An inventory of all the archaeological items is currently underway to ensure no other pieces are missing,” they added.
An official from the department overseeing museums, also requesting anonymity, told AFP that “six small Roman-era statues of the goddess Venus” were taken.
An official had previously told AFP that gold ingots were stolen.
Syria’s antiquities and museums department said in a statement Tuesday that an official investigation had been opened in coordination with security authorities, without specifying which items were stolen.
It said it had taken “immediate measures to ensure the safety of the collections and support the protection and monitoring system inside the museum”.
The classical wing is one of the museum’s most important sections, home to artefacts from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras.
The museum was closed on Wednesday and a security guard told AFP that “there are no tourist visits until next week”.
The national museum had shut its doors due to fears of looting shortly before longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was deposed last December by an Islamist coalition. It reopened in January.
The collections include tens of thousands of items from Syria’s long history, ranging from prehistoric tools to Greco-Roman sculptures to pieces of Islamic art.
During the civil war, many pieces stored elsewhere in the country were brought to the facility for safekeeping.
The war saw archaeological sites bombed, museums looted and many artefacts stolen, generating millions of dollars for traffickers.
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