The police detained 11 people on Friday, including one German, after they staged a bizarre ceremony at the Auschwitz death camp. Visits to the site were temporarily suspended. 
 
 According to officials from the Auschwitz museum, several men and women between the ages of 20 and 27 took off their clothes and slaughtered a sheep at the site of the Nazi German death camp located in present-day Poland. They then proceeded to chain themselves together near the gate that bears the infamous slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei." 
 
 "We're shocked and outraged by this attempt to use this memorial site for a protest and which mars the memory of thousands of victims. It's a reprehensible act," museum spokesman Bartosz Bartyzel told the AFP news agency. 
 
 "This is the first time something like this has happened at Auschwitz," museum director Piotr Cywinski told the AFP news agency. 
 
 "I have no idea what their motives were." 
 
 Local media reported that the youths used a drone to film the incident and draped a white banner with the red text "love" over the camp gate. 
 
 Foreigners also questioned 
 
 The police promptly removed the perpetrators and transferred them the local police station for questioning. Poles, Belarusians and one German were said to be among the perpetrators. 
 
 "A large group of police officers are at the scene," local police spokeswoman Malgorzata Jurecka told the agency. The participants will "likely be charged with desecrating a monument or other historical site," she added. 
 
 During World War II, Germany's Nazi regime used Auschwitz to exterminate around a million Jews and some 100,000 Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners and anti-Nazi resistance fighters. Researchers believe that around 232,000 children died on site. The camp has grown to symbolize the tragedy of the Holocaust and all other Nazi atrocities of the time period. 
 
 dj/sms (AP, AFP) ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption The incident took place beneath the infamous front gate at Auschwitz 
 
 Police in Poland have detained at least 11 people after a naked demonstration at the Auschwitz museum, on the site of the former Nazi death camp. 
 
 The museum said "a group of people killed a sheep, undressed and chained themselves together". 
 
 The incident took place beneath the main gate, which bears the infamous slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work sets you free"). 
 
 The motive behind the demonstration was unclear, officials said. 
 
 A firecracker was also launched in the car park. 
 
 Museum guards immediately intervened and ordered the group to dress. Police attended the site in the southern city of Oswiecim, which was closed to visitors. 
 
 The individuals involved are said to be aged 20 to 27, and their identities are unknown. 
 
 The seven men and four women included six Poles, four Belarusians and one German, regional police spokesman Sebastian Glen said. 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption A photo released by Polish police shows one of the suspects at the police station in Oswiecim, Poland 
 
 The demonstrators could be charged with insulting a monument or symbolic place, which may result in a fine or a restriction of liberty, police said. 
 
 Local media reported that they used a drone to film the disturbance, and draped a white banner with the red text "love" over the gate. 
 
 Some Polish media say the action was a protest against the war in Ukraine, the BBC Warsaw correspondent Adam Easton reports. 
 
 In a statement, the Auschwitz museum said: "Using the symbol of Auschwitz for any kind of manifestations or happenings is outrageous and unacceptable. It is disrespectful to the memory of all the victims of the German Nazi Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp". 
 
 About 1.1 million people, including one million Jews, were murdered by the Nazis at the camp.
– A group of 11 young people from several countries was detained after a bizarre protest at the Auschwitz death camp Friday. The Auschwitz museum says the men and women stripped naked, slaughtered a sheep, and chained themselves together under the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate, the BBC reports. The seven men and four women, from countries including Poland, Belarus, and Germany, also draped a banner with the word "Love" over the gate and used a drone to film the incident, Deutsche Welle reports. Their motives are unknown, though local media have reported it was a protest against the war in Ukraine. Museum guards intervened and the group was taken to the local police station for questioning. Authorities in Poland say they are likely to face charges including desecrating a monument. "Using the symbol of Auschwitz to any kind of manifestation of happenings is outrageous and unacceptable," the museum said in a statement. "It is disrespectful to the memory of all the victims of the German Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp."