A gang of 5 people stole a golden toilet named "America" ​​(2 photos)

A gold toilet that was a museum exhibit was stolen in five minutes. The thieves were arrested but the toilet was never found.





The £2.8m gold toilet was called 'America' and was part of an exhibition by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Oxford Crown Court was told a gang of five men broke through locked palace gates in the early hours armed with sledgehammers.

Co-defendant Michael Jones is alleged to have taken a photograph of the toilet about 17 hours before it was stolen.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher said "the robbery was meticulously planned and carried out quickly".

"The men, believed to be five in number, entered the Blenheim Palace grounds through locked wooden gates shortly before 5am in two stolen vehicles - an Isuzu lorry and a VW Golf. They drove across a field, up to the porch, smashed a window and forced their way in. They knew exactly where to go, broke down the wooden door to the cubicle where the toilet was installed, ripped it off the pipes and drove away," the prosecutor said, recalling that the "America" ​​exhibit was connected to the sewer and water supply.



He said the entire theft took five minutes and "the artwork was never found". It was believed to have been cut up and sold.

It is believed that in the days following the raid, the two men used the word "car" as a code word for the stolen gold and managed to contact the jeweller.

The toilet weighed 98kg and was insured for £4.75m. At the time, gold prices would have valued the gold alone at £2.8m.

The three defendants pleaded not guilty. Another defendant, James Sheen, admitted breaking and entering the toilet, transferring criminal property and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The court heard that the gold toilet was sold piecemeal, at £25,632 per kilogram, and about 20 kilograms of the stolen gold were sold.

A London jeweller, who was also in the dock, made a profit of about £3,000 for each kilogram of gold toilet sold.

It is worth noting that Blenheim Palace, where the gold toilet was stolen, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. The trial is ongoing.