The Estonian GasTerm Eesti company has apologised after using an image of the iconic gates of Auschwitz to advertise the firm’s gas and heating services.

The photograph of the infamous inscription "Arbeit macht frel," or "work makes you free" appeared on GasTerm’s website on August 23 with the caption "gas heating – flexible, convenient and effective "

After receiving complaints, the photograph was removed from the website on August 24 and replaced by a gas burner. A spokesman for the company issued a statement: "If the image placed here earlier has caused any inconvenience, please accept our sincere apologies”.

Company director Sven Linros said: “We wanted to clarify that the CH4 gas which the company uses is not toxic and can be used to heat buildings, even those with such a sad history.”

But the Israel -based director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, Dr Ephraim Zuroff, said : “It is an outrageous lack of taste that is passable in a country in which there is relatively little knowledge and understanding of the crimes committed in the Holocaust.”