Three men on trial over $6 million gold toilet stolen in ‘audacious raid’

According to prosecutors, it took thieves less than five minutes to swipe the 18-carat gold artwork, which has never been recovered.

It was not your typical smash-and-grab burglary and the booty was precious: a toilet worth more than its weight in gold. The one-of-a-kind 18-carat gold toilet was swiped in under five minutes from Blenheim Palace, the sprawling English country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born, in the predawn hours of September 14, 2019, a prosecutor told jurors Monday. Attorney Julian Christopher said in his opening statement in Oxford Crown Court that it was an “audacious raid.” One of three men on trial in the case of the purloined potty was involved in stealing it and the other two helped to sell the spoils. The toilet has never been recovered but is believed to have been cut up and sold. The satirical work, titled “America” by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, poked fun at excessive wealth. It weighed just over 215 pounds (98 kilograms) and was insured for £4.8 million ($6 million). The value of the gold at the time was £2.8 million ($3.5 million). The piece had previously been on display at The Guggenheim Museum in New York. The museum had offered the work to US President Donald Trump during his first term in office after he had asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting.