One of the suspects who allegedly stole the Arbeit Macht Frei iron sign at the entrance to the Nazi-era Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland was Swedish, Polish TV-channel TVN24 reported.

It is not clear if the Swede was the crime's paymaster or simply a dealer in a criminal chain. The thieves could have receivee 30,000 euro ($ 43,000) for the sign. Five men, aged from 20 to 39, were heading to the North of Poland to a Sweden-bound ferry but were detained by Polish police.

According to police, none of the criminals are members of a neo-Nazi group.

The sign, which is German for "Work Sets You Free," disappeared between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time last Friday. Workers of the memorial, which is located at the former camp, put at the entrance the sign's copy made during renovation work in 2006.

The infamous sign was found in a small town in northern Poland, it was sawn into three parts, each containing one word.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of all the concentration and extermination camps operated by the Nazis during World War II. More than 1 million people - 90% of them Jews - died there.

WARSAW, December 22 (RIA Novosti)