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Valuable statues and cultural objects have been taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, authorities report.

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

The six taken statues were made of marble and originated to the Roman period, one official informed the news agency.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had initiated an inquiry to determine the "details surrounding the theft of a number of artifacts", and that actions had been implemented to improve protection and monitoring systems.

The head of domestic security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the government press as stating that authorities were examining the incident, which he said had targeted several "historical artifacts and rare collectibles".

He noted that guards at the institution and other persons were being interrogated.

The Damascus Museum, which was established in 1919, houses the primary historical artifacts in the country.

It features ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the 14th Century BC from historical site, where evidence of the oldest known complete alphabet was found; Greco-Roman period classical statues from Palmyra, among the foremost ancient sites of the historical period; and a third century Jewish temple that was constructed at an ancient location.

The facility was forced to close in 2012, one year after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. Most of the holdings was transferred and preserved at undisclosed sites to safeguard them.

It began limited operations in 2018 and resumed full operations in the beginning of the year, four weeks after opposition groups removed the Assad regime.

Every one of the country's cultural landmarks were damaged or partly ruined during the civil war.

The Islamic State group blew up numerous ancient buildings and other structures at the archaeological site, stating that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization condemned the damage as a violation.

Countless cultural items were also damaged or taken from dig sites and cultural institutions.