£1m gold toilet is stolen from Churchill home
A golden toilet worth £1 million has allegedly been stolen from Blenheim Palace.
Designed by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, the 18ct lavatory was part of an exhibition at the country home where Winston Churchill was born.
The palace is also the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough.
The gold toilet was allegedly removed in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Called “America”, it had been plumbed into the water system to allow visitors to fully “engage” with the installation.
It had previously drawn large crowds at New York’s Guggenheim Museum when it was first showcased in 2016.
The artwork had only been on display for two days at the exhibition which is expected to run until October 27.
Police said offenders broke into the palace in Oxfordshire overnight and left the scene at about 4.50am. No one was injured during the burglary. Detective inspector Jess Milne 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 offenders used at least two vehicles during the offence.
“The artwork has not been recovered at this time but we are conducting a thorough investigation to find it and bring those responsible to justice.”
Police said a 66-yearold man had been arrested in connection with the incident and remains in custody.