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Ancient statues and additional items have been taken from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, authorities report.

The robbery was noticed on Monday, when employees apparently found that a doorway had been damaged from the inside.

The half-dozen stolen statues were marble creations and traced back to the Roman period, a source informed the Associated Press.

Cultural heritage officials said it had launched a probe to establish the "details surrounding the theft of a group of items", and that steps had been implemented to enhance protection and monitoring systems.

The head of internal security in Damascus province, Security Chief Atkeh, was quoted by the government press as saying that authorities were examining the robbery, which he said had focused on several "archaeological statues and unique items".

He continued that guards at the institution and additional people were being interviewed.

The National Museum, which was founded in 1919, contains the primary cultural treasures in Syria.

It features ancient inscribed tablets dating back to the ancient era from an ancient city, where evidence of the oldest known complete alphabet was found; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from the ancient city, among the foremost ancient sites of the classical era; and a 3rd Century AD synagogue that was established at another archaeological site.

The museum was forced to close in the early 2010s, one year after the beginning of the internal strife. A large portion of the artifacts was removed and preserved at undisclosed sites to protect them.

It partially resumed in recent years and returned to normal in early this year, four weeks after opposition groups removed Syria's former leader.

Every one of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites were harmed or significantly impacted during the internal struggle.

The Islamic State group destroyed several temples and other structures at the ancient city, stating that they were un-Islamic. International authorities denounced the destruction as a atrocity.

Countless cultural items were also lost or stolen from historical locations and cultural institutions.