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Ancient statues and other artefacts have been stolen from Syria's National Museum in the capital, authorities report.

The robbery was found on Monday, when employees apparently found that an entrance had been broken from the interior.

The multiple missing sculptures were made of marble and traced back to the Roman era, a source stated to the Associated Press.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to determine the "details surrounding the theft of a number of artifacts", and that steps had been implemented to improve security and monitoring systems.

The head of internal security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as saying that security forces were probing the theft, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and valuable objects".

He noted that security personnel at the facility and additional people were being interrogated.

The cultural institution, which was established in 1919, contains the significant archaeological collection in the country.

It includes clay cuneiform tablets originating to the 14th Century BC from an ancient city, where indications of the most ancient complete alphabet was found; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from the ancient city, a significant ancient sites of the ancient world; and a third century Jewish temple that was established at another archaeological site.

The facility was forced to close in the early 2010s, one year after the beginning of the devastating civil war. The majority of the holdings was transferred and stored at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.

It reopened partially in 2018 and returned to normal in early this year, four weeks after rebel forces deposed the Assad regime.

All six of nationally recognized sites were damaged or significantly impacted during the conflict.

The IS organization blew up multiple religious structures and other structures at the archaeological site, claiming that they were against their beliefs. International authorities denounced the damage as a atrocity.

Countless historical objects were also lost or stolen from archaeological sites and collections.