By Bohol Island News Staff | 02:26 PM September 17, 2019
Police are on the hunt for an 18-carat gold toilet stolen overnight from Winston Churchill’s birthplace over the weekend.
According to The Guardian, officers were called to reports of a burglary at Blenheim palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, where the loo – valued at £1m (US$5,000,000) – was on display as part of a contemporary art exhibition, just before 5 a.m. on on Saturday.
The toilet, designed by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, had been plumbed in and was available for visitors to use.
The golden lavatory, named America, drew large crowds when it was exhibited in New York. It had been installed in a wood-panelled chamber opposite the room where Churchill was born.
Blenheim palace is the ancestral seat of the Duke of Marlborough.
Visitors to the palace had been given three minutes of solitude to test out the golden throne. The Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones has described the experience as “much like peeing on porcelain … but here, among all the photos of young Winston, it also feels like pissing on British history”.
Police said the thieves used at least two vehicles in stealing the toilet seat, CNN News reported.
The theft caused significant damage and flooding in the building because the toilet seat was connected to the palace’s plumbing system.
The report said a 66-year-old man was arrested in the case but has not been identified or charged.
Police are reviewing closed-circuit TV footage as part of the investigation.
