Arrest after Auschwitz vandalism

An American visitor to the former Auschwitz-birkenau death camp has been arrested after attempting to steal a metal part of the rail tracks where prisoners were unloaded.

A police spokeswoman in the southern Polish town of Oswiecim said the 37-year-old man has been charged with attempted theft of an item of cultural importance. the crime can be punished with up to ten years in prison. Police said said the man admitted his guilt.

The site has faced theft and vandalism in recent years, such as the 2009 theft of the Nazi “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Will Set You Free”) sign.