Nablus – Ma'an – A mosaic dating back to the Byzantine era was stolen from the Old Town of Aqraba, northern West Bank, the director of tourism and antiquities in Nablus Dirgham Faris said on Sunday.

The theft was discovered coincidentally when a team from the antiquities department visited the town, Faris told Ma'an.

The mosaic, measuring 3 by 0.8 meters, had been removed from an ornamented stone building front built in the Ottoman era.

An investigation has been launched into the incident by the antiquities police, Faris concluded.