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Valuable statues and cultural objects have been removed from the National Museum of Syria in the capital, officials say.

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

The half-dozen taken sculptures were made of marble and dated back to the Roman era, an authority stated to the news agency.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had opened an investigation to identify the "events surrounding the loss of a group of items", and that measures had been implemented to improve security and surveillance.

The director of national security in the Damascus region, Security Chief Atkeh, was quoted by the state-run Sana news agency as stating that authorities were investigating the incident, which he said had targeted several "historical artifacts and rare collectibles".

He added that security personnel at the institution and other persons were being interrogated.

The National Museum, which was created in 1919, contains the primary archaeological collection in the country.

It features clay cuneiform tablets originating to the Bronze Age from an ancient city, where evidence of the oldest known writing system was uncovered; Greco-Roman period ancient art from historical site, a significant cultural centres of the historical period; and a third century Jewish temple that was constructed at another archaeological site.

The museum was forced to close in the early 2010s, twelve months after the outbreak of the devastating civil war. Most of the collection was evacuated and preserved at undisclosed sites to ensure their safety.

It began limited operations in 2018 and resumed full operations in early this year, one month after opposition groups removed President Bashar al-Assad.

Every one of the country's cultural landmarks were harmed or significantly impacted during the civil war.

The Islamic State group destroyed several temples and historical sites at the archaeological site, stating that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization condemned the damage as a war crime.

Many historical objects were also destroyed or stolen from historical locations and cultural institutions.