The collapsed ceiling of a 2,000-year-old synagogue in the Syrian capital Damascus.<br/> <br />On Monday, the Syrian government and opposition activists said the place of worship had been damaged by theft and shelling.<br/> <br />This amateur video shot last month, which cannot be verified by Reuters, shows rooms inside the building scattered with rubble and debris.<br/> <br />The head of Syria's antiquities department said the synagogue had been looted, with thieves mostly grabbing gold chandeliers and centuries-old icons.<br/> <br />Historic monuments like these have increasingly become a casualty of the country's ongoing civil war.<br/> <br />Rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad began moving into the synagogue's district last July, with the area suffering heavy shelling from government air strikes and artillery since then.
