Three girls gave a Nazi salute while standing outside 'gate of death' at Auschwitz

Image was then uploaded to Instagram but deleted a short time afterwards

Museum authorities spotted the picture and have referred it to prosecutors

Girls could face fine or a prison sentence for promoting hate under Polish law

Polish officials are hunting three girls who caused outrage after throwing Nazi salutes outside Auschwitz and posting a photo of it on social media.

The girls deleted the image shortly after it appeared on Instagram on Tuesday, but it was picked up by museum authorities who have called in prosecutors.

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While giving a Nazi salute is not explicitly banned in Poland, the law does forbid hate speech based on religion and promoting fascist ideology, with prison sentences of up to three years for offenders.

Polish authorities are trying to identify three girls who took a picture giving Nazi salutes outside Auschwitz this week before uploading it to Instagram

The image came to light after it was reposted on Facebook group 'Racist and Xenophobic Behaviour Monitoring Centre'.

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Sharing the image online, the group said: 'The girls' "prank" proves how education about the horrors of the Holocaust and totalitarian systems is needed, especially with anti-Semitism growing in Poland.'

The group added that 'young people unknowingly absorb hateful content'.

Local authorities are in the process of identifying the teenagers and their school will be informed about the incident.

This is not the only case of Nazi gestures being carried out by ignorant visitors of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp.

In 2017, a group of Swedish teenagers were filmed making inappropriate gestures and remarks while visiting the memorial complex.

Meanwhile, an Israeli student ended up in hot water when he dropped his trousers at the Majdanek concentration camp close to the Polish capital Warsaw.

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In that case, the Israeli Ministry of Education intervened and made the culprit pay a £250 fine.

The picture was taken outside the 'gate of death' at the camp, with the girls facing hefty fines and prison sentences of up to three years if they are found to have breached hate laws