Two British teenagers have been fined and given suspended sentences in Poland after police found items believed to be stolen from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum in their bags .
The teenagers, aged 17 and 18, were fined 1000 Zloty and given a one year probation, suspended for three years, for misappropriation of objects that are artefacts of special cultural significance.
They were released by the authorities on Tuesday.
Buttons, a fragment of a hair clipper, and a piece of a spoon which belonged to Birkenau prisoners were found in the youths' backpacks.
Polish police were notified of the incident on Monday by museum security guards and the teenagers were interrogated by police.
Listen to the JC's editor, Stephen Pollard, talk to BBC Radio London's Vanessa Feltz about this story.
The boys from the Perse School, in Cambridge were on an educational trip at the time.
Ed Elliott, headteacher at the private school said: "There will be a full and thorough investigation into what occurred.
"I want to hear directly from the boys as to what led them to take these items. I want to ensure that all necessary lessons are learnt.
"The opportunity to be able to visit Holocaust sites carries with it the duty to treat those sites with the utmost respect and sensitivity.
“We remain committed to educating all of our pupils about the horrors of the Holocaust so that they can learn from the lessons of the past.”
A spokesman for the school said “The boys, neither of whom is yet 18, picked up the fragments in the Canada section of the camp.
"They co-operated fully with the authorities and admitted taking the items. They are deeply sorry for the offence they have caused.”
According to Deputy Inspector Mariusz Ciarka of the Malopolska police, the suspects did not understand the gravity of their alleged crime and were unfamiliar with “the dramatic history associated with Auschwitz”.
He said: “In contrast, museum staff are particularly sensitive to these types of incidents.”
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “This is absolutely shocking and shows gross disregard to the memory of the Holocaust.
"Every single artefact found at Auschwitz-Birkenau tells a story of the more than a million people who were ruthlessly murdered by the Nazis there and this incident serves to show why our work is crucial now more than ever.
"We have a duty to educate the next generation to prevent ignorance and hate, and in over 15 years of organising for thousands of British teenagers to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, we have never known of such an incident.
"We would gladly work with these young boys to ensure they understand the implications of their actions although this is now a matter for the police.”
