Islamic State (IS) fighters have broken into the museum of the ancient Syrian town of Palmyra, though the museum's artifacts are said to have been removed beforehand and safe.
The Associated Press quotes Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in the capital, Damascus, as saying IS militants entered the museum on May 22 but did not loot the building.
He added that all of the museum's contents had been "taken to safe areas."
IS fighters captured Palmyra on May 20, raising concern around the world they would destroy priceless, 2,000-year-old temples, tombs, and colonnades located in the town's south.
The group has already destroyed several sites in Syria and Iraq, and also has had a lucrative business in excavating and selling artifacts on the black market.