A wrought-iron gate bearing the Nazis' infamous 'Work sets you free' slogan has been stolen from the former Dachau concentration camp in Germany. Security guards at the site, near Munich, discovered the gate bearing the words 'Arbeit macht frei' was missing yesterday morning. The slogan was meant to convey to the prisoners who passed under it that they could attain spiritual freedom through hard work for the Fatherland. However, for many it marked their entrance to a living hell. Scroll down for video . Stolen: This wrought-iron gate bearing the Nazis' infamous 'Work sets you free' slogan has been stolen from the former Dachau concentration camp in Germany . The gate, which measures 75 by 37 inches, was set into a larger iron structure, and police said the thieves would have had to climb over another gate in order to reach it. Police said 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 200,000 people from across Europe were held at the camp and more than 40,000 prisoners died there before it was liberated by U.S. forces on April 29, 1945. Forced labour: Dachau inmates manufacturing weapons at the camp, which was opened in 1933 . Freedom: French prisoners sing their national anthem as U.S. troops liberate the camp in April 1945 . The camp is now open to the public as a memorial. Memorial director Gabriele Hammermann has condemned the theft of the gate, which she described as 'the central symbol for the prisoners' ordeal,' according to German news agency dpa. She said a private security service supervises the site but officials had decided against surveillance of the former camp with video cameras because they didn't want to turn it into a 'maximum-security unit.' Ms Hammermann said that decision may now have to be reviewed. Similarity: In December 2009, the infamous 'Arbeit macht frei' sign that spanned the main gate of the Auschwitz death camp, built by the Nazis in occupied Poland, was stolen . A blog posting by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial wrote that 'while we do not know who is behind the theft of the sign, the theft of such a symbolic object is an offensive attack on the memory of the Holocaust.' In December 2009, the infamous 'Arbeit macht frei' sign that spanned the main gate of the Auschwitz death camp, built by the Nazis in occupied Poland, was stolen. Police found it three days later cut into pieces in a forest on the other side of Poland. Anders Högström, a Swedish former neo-Nazi leader, was found guilty of instigating that theft and jailed in his homeland. Five Poles also were convicted of involvement and imprisoned. The sign was replaced with a replica and the original is now behind glass in a museum. Located on the grounds of a former munitions factory close to the medieval town of the same name, Dachau concentration camp was established in March 1933, just a few weeks after Adolf Hilter was appointed Reich Chancellor. The camp was intended to house political prisoners, and served as a model for all concentration camps that would follow, as well as a 'school for violence' for the SS commanders who ran it. As the Nazi reign continued, the purpose of the camp was extended to include forced labour, and began to take in Jews, ordinary criminals and foreign prisoners from countries Germany invaded. Prisoners were under the constant threat of punishment including beatings as well as forced labour. Scientific experiments also took place at the camp, including testing of new medications, attempts to make seawater drinkable, and methods to stop excessive bleeding. Hundreds of inmates died or were left disabled by these experiments. In 1942 a new crematorium was built at the site which included a gas chamber, although there is no evidence this was used to murder prisoners. Instead those who were judged too sick or weak to work were sent to the Hartheim euthanasia centre. In a final act of cruelty, guards at the camp forced more than 7,000 prisoners, most of them Jewish, on a death march as American troops drew close in April 1945. Many of the starved and weak prisoners who struggled to keep up were shot dead. By the time it was liberated by U.S. forces on April 29, 1945, more than 200,000 people had been held in Dachau and its subsidiary camps, 41,500 of whom died there. After the war, SS soldiers awaiting trial were held at Dachau, and it was also used as a U.S. military base during the occupation of Germany. Dachau is now open to the public as a memorial.
Wrought iron gate measuring 75 by 37 inches taken from site near Munich .
Slogan meant to convey to inmates they could attain 'spiritual' freedom through hard work .
Similar sign was stolen from the former Auschwitz camp in December 2009 .
Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp and opened in 1933 .
More than 200,000 held at the camp and over 40,000 prisoners died there .
It was liberated by U.S. forces in 1945 and now stands as a memorial .
A wrought-iron gate bearing the Nazis' infamous 'Work sets you free' slogan has been stolen from the former Dachau concentration camp in Germany. Security guards at the site, near Munich, discovered the gate bearing the words 'Arbeit macht frei' was missing yesterday morning. The slogan was meant to convey to the prisoners who passed under it that they could attain spiritual freedom through hard work for the Fatherland. However, for many it marked their entrance to a living hell. Scroll down for video . Stolen: This wrought-iron gate bearing the Nazis' infamous 'Work sets you free' slogan has been stolen from the former Dachau concentration camp in Germany . The gate, which measures 75 by 37 inches, was set into a larger iron structure, and police said the thieves would have had to climb over another gate in order to reach it. Police said 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 200,000 people from across Europe were held at the camp and more than 40,000 prisoners died there before it was liberated by U.S. forces on April 29, 1945. Forced labour: Dachau inmates manufacturing weapons at the camp, which was opened in 1933 . Freedom: French prisoners sing their national anthem as U.S. troops liberate the camp in April 1945 . The camp is now open to the public as a memorial. Memorial director Gabriele Hammermann has condemned the theft of the gate, which she described as 'the central symbol for the prisoners' ordeal,' according to German news agency dpa. She said a private security service supervises the site but officials had decided against surveillance of the former camp with video cameras because they didn't want to turn it into a 'maximum-security unit.' Ms Hammermann said that decision may now have to be reviewed. Similarity: In December 2009, the infamous 'Arbeit macht frei' sign that spanned the main gate of the Auschwitz death camp, built by the Nazis in occupied Poland, was stolen . A blog posting by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial wrote that 'while we do not know who is behind the theft of the sign, the theft of such a symbolic object is an offensive attack on the memory of the Holocaust.' In December 2009, the infamous 'Arbeit macht frei' sign that spanned the main gate of the Auschwitz death camp, built by the Nazis in occupied Poland, was stolen. Police found it three days later cut into pieces in a forest on the other side of Poland. Anders Högström, a Swedish former neo-Nazi leader, was found guilty of instigating that theft and jailed in his homeland. Five Poles also were convicted of involvement and imprisoned. The sign was replaced with a replica and the original is now behind glass in a museum. Located on the grounds of a former munitions factory close to the medieval town of the same name, Dachau concentration camp was established in March 1933, just a few weeks after Adolf Hilter was appointed Reich Chancellor. The camp was intended to house political prisoners, and served as a model for all concentration camps that would follow, as well as a 'school for violence' for the SS commanders who ran it. As the Nazi reign continued, the purpose of the camp was extended to include forced labour, and began to take in Jews, ordinary criminals and foreign prisoners from countries Germany invaded. Prisoners were under the constant threat of punishment including beatings as well as forced labour. Scientific experiments also took place at the camp, including testing of new medications, attempts to make seawater drinkable, and methods to stop excessive bleeding. Hundreds of inmates died or were left disabled by these experiments. In 1942 a new crematorium was built at the site which included a gas chamber, although there is no evidence this was used to murder prisoners. Instead those who were judged too sick or weak to work were sent to the Hartheim euthanasia centre. In a final act of cruelty, guards at the camp forced more than 7,000 prisoners, most of them Jewish, on a death march as American troops drew close in April 1945. Many of the starved and weak prisoners who struggled to keep up were shot dead. By the time it was liberated by U.S. forces on April 29, 1945, more than 200,000 people had been held in Dachau and its subsidiary camps, 41,500 of whom died there. After the war, SS soldiers awaiting trial were held at Dachau, and it was also used as a U.S. military base during the occupation of Germany. Dachau is now open to the public as a memorial.
Security guards at the site, near Munich, slogan was meant to convey to the prisoners who passed under it that they could attain spiritual freedom through hard work for the Fatherland. the former Dachau concentration camp in Germany . The gate, which measures 75 by 37 inches, was set Munich, was the first concentration camp set up by the Nazis in 1933. More than 200,000 people from across Europe were held at the camp and more than 40,000 prisoners died there before it was dead. By the time it was liberated by U.S. forces the public as a memorial.