- Some of the museum’s collections were moved to Damascus for safekeeping
- The burglars’ method of entry and escape remains unclear
- Authorities said the thieves appeared to target the classical wing
Thieves have broken into Syria’s National Museum in Damascus, taking priceless artifacts, including Roman-era statues and gold ingots.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that the break-in was discovered on Monday after a door was found forced open, and the museum has remained closed since.
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Authorities said the thieves appeared to target the classical wing, which houses treasures from the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods.
The burglars’ method of entry and escape remains unclear, but security sources said museum guards and staff were briefly detained for questioning. Syria’s National Museum had largely survived the civil war, though many other antiquities were looted or destroyed by ISIS.
Some of the museum’s collections were moved to Damascus for safekeeping, with security upgraded through surveillance cameras and reinforced gates.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, former head of Syria’s antiquities department, described the stolen section as “historically rich,” warning that the theft represents a significant loss to the nation’s cultural heritage.
The authorities are investigating the incident, but details of the stolen items and suspects remain limited.
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