"Its material value is small but the spiritual loss is much greater," the cathedral`s provost, Gerd Bachner, was quoted in the police statement from June 5 as saying.
Bachner urged the thieves to "come to their senses" and return the relic.
A visitor to cathedral noticed early Sunday that the cloth was missing from its glass case, which was built to recall a visit by the pontiff to Cologne in November 1980.
Police released a picture of the glass with a hole smashed by the thieves.
Police assume the theft took place between the night of June 4 and the morning of June 5. Pope John Paul II led the Catholic church from 1978 until his death in 2005.
Cloth with Pope John Paul II`s blood stolen in Germany
06 June 2016
Read: 1188
A cloth with a drop of Pope John Paul II`s blood was stolen from Cologne Cathedral in western Germany at the weekend, police said.
-1780923278.jpg&h=190&w=280&zc=1&q=100)
