BEIRUT (AP) – Unknown assailants broke into the offices of Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency and stole the servers that contain its archives, the Information Ministry said Monday.

The theft occurred in a tightly secured area. The archives are located in a building that houses two ministries, across the street from the Lebanese central bank, and adjacent to the heavily-guarded Interior Ministry. Information Ministry employees Monday morning saw the door to the archive room below ground level open and its lock broken.

According to the statement from caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari, the archives contained photos and material dating back to 1961. The assailants also stole five computers. He called it a “crime the size of a nation”.