President Lech Kaczynski is also appalled by the crime, says Presidential Minister Pawel Wypych: “This crime has been committed by a completely insane person. Auschwitz is priceless. This act merits strong condemnation,” he said this morning.

Andrzej Przewoznik, from the Council for Protecting the Memory of Struggle and Martyrdom in Warsaw s appalled by the theft. "It seems that even a symbolic place like the Auschwitz memorial site, where hundreds of thousands of people were killed, is not free of acts of vandalism,” he said.

"The theory that it was the scrap collectors is plausible, but rather unlikely,” says police spokesman Dariusz Nowak. “It looks as though it had been a premeditated theft as someone had to enter the premises presumably dragging a ladder along and undue screws, which, in such severe weather conditions is not an easy task. Moreover, trails picked up by the police dog show the sign was pulled through a hole in the camp's wall and was later most likely loaded up on a vehicle."

A copy of the inscription, which was made in 2006 during maintenance work on the gates has replaced the stolen sign. (pg/ab)

Source: IAR