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Valuable statues and additional items have been stolen from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, sources confirm.

The theft was found on Monday, when museum workers apparently found that one of the museum's doors had been broken from the inside.

The six missing statues were marble creations and originated to the Roman era, a source 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 items", and that measures had been enacted to improve protection and monitoring systems.

The director of internal security in the Damascus region, General Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the state-run Sana news agency as stating that authorities were examining the theft, which he said had affected several "ancient sculptures and valuable objects".

He noted that security personnel at the institution and other persons were being interviewed.

The Damascus Museum, which was founded in 1919, houses the most important cultural treasures in the country.

It contains clay cuneiform tablets tracing back to the ancient era from an ancient city, where proof of the oldest known writing system was discovered; Greco-Roman period classical statues from the ancient city, one of the most important cultural centres of the historical period; and a third century synagogue that was built at Dura Europos.

The institution was forced to close in the early 2010s, a year after the outbreak of the internal strife. Most of the artifacts was transferred and stored at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.

It reopened partially in recent years and completely reopened in the beginning of the year, one month after insurgents overthrew President Bashar al-Assad.

Each of the six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were affected or significantly impacted during the civil war.

The Islamic State group destroyed numerous religious structures and historical sites at Palmyra, asserting that they were against their beliefs. The cultural organization censured the destruction as a war crime.

Many cultural items were also damaged or taken from historical locations and collections.