The District Court in Krakow has issued a warrant for the arrest of a man suspected of stealing the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei sign at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland, the court's press service said on Tuesday.

Polish authorities said Anders Hoegstroem, a former Swedish neo-Nazi, masterminded the theft, and even came to Poland to visit the museum in the spring 2009.

The theft occurred between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. local time on December 18, 2009. The sign, whose words mean "Work Sets You Free," was recovered after three days in a small town in northern Poland, some 600 km from the former death camp.

Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration camp, where more than one million people died, 90% of them were Jews. The museum has been operating for 62 years and on January 27 marked the 65th anniversary of the camp's liberation by Soviet troops.

WARSAW, February 2 (RIA Novosti)