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Valuable artifacts and additional items have been stolen from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, authorities report.

The theft was found on Monday, when staff apparently found that a doorway had been forced from the inside.

The half-dozen missing pieces were marble creations and dated back to the Roman era, an authority told the media outlet.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had launched a probe to determine the "events surrounding the theft of a group of items", and that measures had been enacted to improve protection and monitoring systems.

The head of domestic security in the Damascus region, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was referenced by the official media as declaring that authorities were examining the incident, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and unique items".

He noted that museum protectors at the institution and other individuals were being interrogated.

The Damascus Museum, which was created in the early twentieth century, holds the most important archaeological collection in Syria.

It contains historical records tracing back to the Bronze Age from historical site, where proof of the earliest linguistic system was uncovered; 1st and 2nd Century AD Greco-Roman sculptures from Palmyra, among the foremost ancient sites of the historical period; and a third century religious building that was built at Dura Europos.

The museum was had to cease operations in 2012, twelve months after the beginning of the internal strife. A large portion of the collection was removed and preserved at undisclosed sites to protect them.

It began limited operations in recent years and completely reopened in the beginning of the year, four weeks after opposition groups removed Syria's former leader.

All six of nationally recognized sites were harmed or partially destroyed during the internal struggle.

The IS organization blew up several temples and additional edifices at Palmyra, asserting that they were idolatrous. Unesco condemned the damage as a atrocity.

Countless historical objects were also destroyed or stolen from dig sites and cultural institutions.