A renowned Syrian sculptor Wael Qastun was tortured to death in the city of Homs, NOW Lebanon quoted the Syrian Coalition of Artists for Freedom (SCAF) as saying on Tuesday.

"Qastun was transferred to the Homs military hospital, and his family was informed of his martyrdom," a statement released by the artists’ group said. “A large crowd of people" attended his funeral, the statement added.

Qastun’s sculptures focused mainly on women.

The father of the two children is not the only artists to have been killed by government force since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s regime began 16 months ago.

In July last year, Ibrahim Qashush, a protest songwriter who was mainly famous for writing the iconic protest song called "Yalla irhal ya Bashar" (Come on leave, O Bashar, was killed in Hama.

Human Rights Watch accused the Syrian state of using 27 detention centres and pursuing what amounts to a state policy of torture.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least 19,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011.