The sign symbolizes the horror that happened at the concentration camp.  It had been cut into three pieces when discovered.

The motive has not yet been [...]]]> A stolen sign from Auschwitz in south Poland has been found in the north of the country according to police who have also arrested five men in conjunction with the theft.

The sign symbolizes the horror that happened at the concentration camp.  It had been cut into three pieces when discovered.

The motive has not yet been announced, but the theft caused outrage from Polish and Israel politicians.

A spokeswoman for the police stated that five men were arrested and taken to the Krakow station for further questioning.

Auschwitz was a concentration camp in WWII, at which over one million people were murdered.  Of those killed, about 90% were Jews.

Over the weekend border crossing and airport security checkpoints were guarded heavily as police looked for the 5m sign that states ‘work sets you free’ .

It is estimated that the sign was yanked off the gateway of the camp sometime between 0330 and 0500 on Friday morning.

Jaroslaw Mensfelt, spokesman for the Auschwitz museum, said that the thieves took down the sign and then carried it 300m to a concrete wall opening.  He said that four bars across the opening were cut and footprints were left behind from the wall to the road.

It is little surprise that polish authorities are in no hurry to explain the reasons behind the theft, police had searched hundreds of scrap dealers, that would mean the item was to be sold for its few euros scrap value, an unthinkable insult to those who perished, and a missive embarrassment to the country