Berlin - German police say part of a wrought-iron gate at the former Dachau concentration camp bearing the Nazis' cynical slogan "Work sets you free" has been stolen.
Police said in a statement that security officials noticed early on Sunday the gate section measuring 190 by 95 centimetres was missing. They say that whoever stole it during the night would have had to climb over another gate to reach it.
Police say they found nothing in the immediate vicinity of the camp and appealed for anyone who noticed any suspicious people or vehicles to come forward.
Dachau, near Munich, was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933. More than 40 000 prisoners died there before it was liberated by US forces on 29 April 1945.