The sign that greeted the millions of people who died in the notorious World War II Nazi death camps at Auschwitz was stolen last night, Polish officials confirmed to the BBC today.

The Auschwitz gate, as it stood in May 1945. Photo credit: Auschwitz KL

“Arbeit Macht Frei,” or “work will set you free”, was a cruel lie to the more than 1 million people – 90 percent of them Jewish – who died in the camps; the sign, which bore that slogan, was made by prisoners in the camp.

“It’s a terrible thing,” Auschwitz official Pawel Sawicki told the BBC, adding, “It had to be planned – it’s obvious it wasn’t someone who just came along to do it.”

The sign has been replaced in the meantime by a replica.