An 18-carat solid gold toilet worth a reported £4.8m has been stolen from Blenheim Palace.
The fully functioning loo was ripped out of a room at the famous stately home – the birthplace of Winston Churchill – on Saturday after being installed just two days earlier for an art exhibition.
The theft of the unusual sculpture, titled America, prompted officials to close the Oxfordshire palace to the public.
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According to Metro, the toilet, created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was initially reported to be worth about £1m, but Blenheim Palace chief executive Dominic Hare has said that the true figure is nearer $6m (£4.8m).
Thames Valley Police has announced that a 66-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident, but added that the piece of art has not yet been found.
The theft has prompted a series of conspiracy theories, with some suggesting that Cattelan may have been behind the operation - an accusation he has rubbished, telling The New York Times: “I thought it was a prank. Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet?”
So what happened to the artwork, and who might be to blame?
What is the piece?
Cattelan created America in 2016 for the Guggenheim Museum in New York, where it was placed in the bathroom as a fully-functioning toilet alongside regular toilets.
The BBC reports that the sculpture hit the headlines last year after it was offered to US President Donald Trump by the chief curator of the Guggenheim, and was installed at Blenheim as part of an exhibition of Cattelan’s work, which began on Thursday. Visitors were allowed to use the toilet if they stuck to a three-minute booking.
After concerns were raised over security surrounding the piece, Blenheim Art Foundation founder Edward Spencer-Churchill said: “It’s not going to be the easiest thing to nick. 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 to be guarding it.”
Asked why he chose the piece to display, he added: “Despite being born with a silver spoon in my mouth I have never had a shit on a golden toilet, so I look forward to it.”
What happened on Saturday?
Over the weekend, police said they were following a number of lines of inquiry as to who stole the high-value toilet.
Inspector Richard Nicholls from Thames Valley Police said: “We believe they used at least two vehicles during the offence and left the scene at around 4.50am. The artwork has not been recovered at this time, but there is a thorough investigation being carried out.”
The haphazard removal of the toilet also caused significant damage and flooding to the palace.
Is that really what happened?
While the police insist the incident was a genuine theft, The Guardian suggests that some sceptics “have been slow to accept the theft at face value”, with many believing it to have been a carefully orchestrated PR stunt.
This cynicism, the paper notes, appears to stem from a recent incident in which famed street artist Banksy shredded his iconic Girl With Balloon piece during its auction at Sotheby’s in late 2018. The stunt reportedly increased the piece’s value.
But Cattelan shot back against accusations that he may have been behind the theft, saying: “America was the 1% for the 99%, and I hope it still is. I want to be positive and think the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood-inspired action.”
He also appeared to “make light of the situation”, CNN reports, by describing the thieves as “great performers”.
“When this morning I was informed about the robbery I thought it was a prank and it took me a while, after a few checks, to come to the conclusion that it was true and it wasn’t a surreal movie where instead of the jewels of the crown, the thieves went away with a bloody toilet,” he said in a statement. “I always liked heist movies and finally I’m in one of them.
“Dear thieves, please, if you are reading this, let me know how much you like the piece and how it feels to pee on gold.”
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