Armed looters broke in to the Tel El-Dabaa antiquities warehouse on Thursday, stealing artifacts and breaking several pieces of the stored collection.

Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of the Central Administration of Antiquities of Alexandria and Lower Egypt, said the warehouse was used to store artifacts found at Tel El-Dabaa's archaelogical sites by Dutch and German excavation missions over the last 30 years. They include a collection of ancient Egyptian clay pots and amulets.

Abdel Maqsoud said that an inventory is now being carried out by Egyptian archaeologists to determine the number of missing objects and the cost.

The Tourism and Antiquities Police is currently making investigations in an attempt to catch the thieves.