Unknown individuals have reportedly exhumed the remains of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad from his grave in Qardaha, northwestern Syria.

Footage and images circulating on social media show what appears to be the mausoleum of the father of the recently deposed dictator, Bashar al-Assad, with a hole in the center where an ornate grave marker once stood.

It is currently not known where the former President's body was taken and what was done to it.

The incident comes as the Syrian Alawite minority, to which the Assad family belonged, continues to be subjected to acts of retribution, including murders, by factors that identify with the new Sunni government.

In December, shortly after the rebels, led by the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group, took control of the country, rebels stormed the mausoleum and set the tomb on fire.