American Arrested After Trying To Steal Train Tracks At Auschwitz

A 37-year-old American man was arrested by Polish authorities after they caught him trying to steal a section of the train tracks that led into the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, where over one million people, mostly Jews, were killed by the Nazis during World War II.

The man was part of a guided tour at the site, which is now home to a museum and a Holocaust memorial, but he split off from the group. Security was alerted by other guests that the man was trying to remove the train tracks and they sent police to investigate. Authorities took the man, who has not been identified, into custody and he admitted to ripping up the train tracks.

He pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted theft of an item of cultural importance and faces up to ten years behind bars. Officials did not say why he was trying to steal the train tracks.

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