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Valuable sculptures and other artefacts have been taken from Syria's National Museum in Damascus, authorities report.

The burglary was noticed on the start of the week, when staff allegedly found that an entrance had been forced from the interior.

The half-dozen stolen statues were marble creations and traced back to the Roman period, an authority informed the media outlet.

The nation's antiquities authority said it had initiated an inquiry to establish the "events surrounding the theft of a number of exhibits", and that measures had been taken to enhance protection and observation methods.

The head of domestic security in Damascus province, Brig-Gen Osama Atkeh, was cited by the government press as stating that authorities were examining the theft, which he said had affected several "historical artifacts and unique items".

He continued that guards at the facility and additional people were being interrogated.

The Damascus Museum, which was created in the early twentieth century, contains the primary archaeological collection in Syria.

It contains ancient inscribed tablets tracing back to the 14th Century BC from Ugarit, where evidence of the most ancient complete alphabet was uncovered; early centuries CE classical statues from historical site, among the foremost cultural centres of the classical era; and a third century Jewish temple that was established at an ancient location.

The museum was forced to close in 2012, one year after the outbreak of the destructive conflict. A large portion of the artifacts was evacuated and kept at secure places to safeguard them.

It began limited operations in recent years and completely reopened in early this year, one month after insurgents removed President Bashar al-Assad.

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

The Islamic State group blew up multiple temples and additional edifices at Palmyra, asserting that they were un-Islamic. The cultural organization denounced the destruction as a war crime.

Many artefacts were also destroyed or looted from dig sites and cultural institutions.