Door forced open at excavation house

A house containing artifacts unearthed during a recent excavation in Muğla’s ancient city of Lagina was broken into Nov. 21, according to local cultural authorities.

A search is underway to determine if any artifacts were stolen. After the incident was reported, Muğla Provincial Culture and Tourism Director Kamil Özer arrived in the Turgut district with the Muğla Museum director and two archaeologists.

The gendarmerie in the Aegean province was called shortly after the door was broken open, Özer told Turgut Mayor Salih Özmen and gendarmerie officials. “Examinations in the excavation house are continuing. After the examination, an inventory will be carried out in order to determine if there are missing artifacts in the house.”

Özmen said there was no alarm or security camera in the house but added that there were security cameras at the public institutions on both sides of the house. “We will look through the images recorded by these cameras along with the municipality’s camera around the house.”

The head of the Lagina excavations, Professor Ahmet Tırpan, who was in the Central Anatolian province of Konya at the time of the incident, said he did not know any details about the break-in.

“There are artifacts that we call ‘study collection’ pieces in the house. I cannot say anything about their number, but there are artifacts from various periods like the Roman, Carian and early Bronze ages that have been kept in the house since 1993. There are also ceramic pieces,” Tırpan said