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Valuable artifacts and additional items have been taken from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, officials say.

The burglary was found on Monday, when employees allegedly found that one of the museum's doors had been damaged from the interior.

The six missing sculptures were crafted from marble and originated to the Roman era, an authority informed the media outlet.

Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to identify the "circumstances surrounding the theft of a group of exhibits", and that actions had been taken to strengthen safeguarding and observation methods.

The director of internal security in Damascus province, General Osama Atkeh, was quoted by the official media as declaring that security forces were investigating the incident, which he said had targeted several "archaeological statues and valuable objects".

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

The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, holds the most important archaeological collection in the country.

It contains clay cuneiform tablets dating back to the ancient era from Ugarit, where evidence of the earliest linguistic system was discovered; early centuries CE classical statues from the ancient city, one of the most important ancient sites of the historical period; and a third century synagogue that was constructed at an ancient location.

The institution was compelled to shut in the early 2010s, one year after the start of the internal strife. Most of the collection was evacuated and stored at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It reopened partially in recent years and completely reopened in early this year, four weeks after insurgents overthrew Syria's former leader.

Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were damaged or partly ruined during the conflict.

The IS organization demolished numerous religious structures and other structures at the archaeological site, asserting that they were idolatrous. The cultural organization censured the destruction as a atrocity.

Numerous artefacts were also destroyed or looted from dig sites and museums.