Police found the famous inscription of iron "Arbeit macht frei", which overlooks the entrance to the former concentration camp Auschwitz, and arrested five suspects. The panel has been discovered in three pieces.
The spokesman for police said Katarzyna Padlo The Associated Press that the inscription was found Sunday night in northern Poland, at the other end of the country, the camp of Auschwitz is a museum located in the south. The sign had been stolen before dawn Friday, causing consternation.
Five men, aged 25 to 39, were arrested and taken into custody in Krakow. Another spokesman for the police, Dariusz Nowak, the panel of five meters, which in German means "Work makes you free," was found in three pieces, each containing one of the words of the sentence. The sign marks the entrance to the former Nazi death camp where more than one million people, mostly Jews, were killed during the Second World War.
The panel was found near the home of one of five men, investigators announced at a press conference. It is too early to say what led the authors of the flight to such a move, unanimously condemned by the international community.
Museum officials have greeted the news with great relief, despite the damage to the panel. A spokesman Pawel Sawicki, said that experts should determine how best to repair it. The authorities hope to put in place as soon as possible, "he said.