GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — On April 4, Palestinian security services in the West Bank were informed that a group of antiquities thieves had carried out illegal excavations in the town of Sarra, in the west of the Nablus governorate. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities staff, along with members of the town's Preventive Security Service, immediately headed there.

Inspections by the ministry’s staff at the site revealed that the thieves had discovered a tomb dating back to the Roman Empire in Palestine. The thieves had opened a wide hole in the lid of the coffin found in the tomb and looted many artifacts from the site. 

The thieves had also stolen a precious antique bluestone. According to information obtained by Al-Monitor, three people who live near the site are currently being investigated and already confessed to excavating and sabotaging the site.

Head of the Antiquities Protection Department in Nablus affiliated with the Ministry of Antiquities Mofeed Salah, who inspected the archaeological site, expressed regret over the damage caused by the arbitrary excavation.