Three men who stole the Arbeit Macht Frei sign from the Auschwitz concentration camp have been sentenced by a Krakow court to jail terms of 18 months to 2 1/2 years, PAP news agency said on Thursday.

At the request of the accused, who admitted their guilt, the case was fast-tracked by the court. They were also fined.

The three, identified as brothers Radoslaw M. and Lukasz M., and Pawel S., stole the death camp sign from the entrance to the Auschwitz memorial museum site early on December 18, 2009. The sign, translated as "Work sets you free," was recovered three days later in a small town in northern Poland, some 600 km from the former death camp.

Police said soon after their arrest that they were "ordinary criminals" and there was no ideological basis to the theft of the sign, which has come to symbolize Nazi atrocities. The sign was allegedly stolen for an individual in Sweden.

The metal lettering, which was split into three pieces for transport, one for each word, was found hidden near the home of one of the thieves. It was the first time anyone had stolen the sign, which was made by Polish prisoners in 1940.

Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration camp, where more than 1 million people died, 90% of them 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, March 18 (RIA Novosti)