WELL, THAT IS DOWN THE PAN!
Flush and grab gang steal solid gold loo from Blenheim Palace
THEY said it could never be stolen – but a solid gold toilet has proved just too tempting for thieves.
Yesterday a gang of ‘highly professional’ crooks swooped on Blenheim Palace and seized the £5million, fully functional loo, despite it weighing hundreds of pounds.
It had been installed at Winston Churchill’s birthplace as part of a high-profile art exhibition due to open yesterday.
But in the early hours, police were called to the stately home in Oxfordshire and found the 18-carat toilet gone and water gushing over the floor, causing extensive damage.
In what now seems a remarkable display of hubris, Lord Edward Spencer-Churchill last month said he had no plans to guard the valuable WC, which was part of an exhibition from the Italian ‘prankster of the art world’, Maurizio Cattelan.
‘It’s not going to be the easiest thing to nick,’ said the Duke of Marlborough’s half-brother. ‘Firstly it’s plumbed in, and secondly a potential thief will have no idea who last used the toilet or what they ate. So no, I don’t plan on guarding it.’
Sources at the estate, near Woodstock, said the gang used a heavy vehicle, believed to be a 4x4, to
‘We think they’ll melt it down as it’s hard to hide’
break down a large metal gate on the estate and drive to the palace. Several broken window panes near the Great Court suggested one possible entry point, but police refused to comment.
However, quite how thieves moved the hefty item remains a mystery. A palace source said there was a ‘lot of consternation’ about how they had been able to get inside and spend so long at their task.
‘There’s a lot of serious art in the palace,’ said the source, ‘but these guys were clearly highly professional and knew what they were about.
‘They could have studied the palace on the internet, or as made as many visits as they needed to, familiarising themselves with the layout. We can only assume they took the gold purely for its intrinsic value to be melted down, because a gold loo is not going to be easy to conceal for very long.’
The Cattelan exhibition – which also includes lifelike models of a praying Hitler and Pope John Paul II being hit by a meteorite – was launched with a glittering dinner on Friday night. It is believed to have been attended by the artist himself.
Once open, visitors would have been able to book a three-minute slot to use the gold toilet as part of the £27 admission price. The piece, entitled America, was placed opposite the room where Churchill was born in 1874.
It had previously been on display at the Guggenheim in New York during Donald Trump’s election campaign, when more than 100,000 people used it. The museum subsequently offered to lend it to the White House – rather than a Van Gogh Trump’s staff originally asked for – but officials declined the offer. Blenheim Palace chief executive Dominic Hare told The Mail on Sunday last night: ‘We are saddened by this extraordinary event, but also relieved no one was hurt and that nothing else was stolen.
‘This would have taken some planning. I’m not exactly sure how much the toilet weighs, but it’s certainly a lot – two grown men would struggle to lift it.
‘Even apart from the artwork that was taken, which is worth around £4.8million, there are many other valuable pieces, both in the exhibition and on display in the palace’s own collection.
However, he promised it would be ‘business as usual’ for visitors and the exhibition as the investigation continues. A 66-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the break-in, and police have appealed for information.
Detective Inspector Jess Milne, of Thames Valley Police, said: ‘The piece of art that has been stolen is a high-value toilet made out of gold that was on display at the palace. ‘Due to the toilet being plumbed in to the building, this has caused significant damage and flooding. We believe a group of offenders used at least two vehicles during the offence.’ Detectives believe the gang left the estate just before 5am. Yesterday, the five-bar gate they smashed to enter the 120,000-acre estate was being guarded.
Mr Hare added: ‘We are very grateful to our staff and to Thames Valley Police for their rapid and brave reactions.
‘We knew there was huge interest in the Maurizio Cattelan contemporary art exhibition, with many set to come and enjoy the installations. But we still have so many fascinating treasures in the palace and the remaining items of the exhibition to share.’