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Aug 19, 2023

Seven arrested in UK over theft of $6M gold toilet

Submit Δ Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission. UK cops think they’ve flushed out who stole a valuable palace throne — a fully functioning gold toilet named “America” that’s worth

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UK cops think they’ve flushed out who stole a valuable palace throne — a fully functioning gold toilet named “America” that’s worth $6 million.

The 18-karat potty, once displayed at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, made a splash when it was swiped nearly four years ago from Winston Churchill’s childhood home, Blenheim Palace.

Now police have arrested seven suspected loo-ters — a 38-year-old woman and six men, between ages 38 and 68 — on suspicion of handling stolen goods or conspiracy to burgle or commit robbery, according to the BBC.

They have since been released as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) examines the file “for a decision to be made on any charges,” the prosecutors told the BBC.

“A number of individuals remain released under investigation in relation to this case,” the CPS said.

Despite the possible breakthrough, the gold toilet has yet to be found — and experts fear it may have long since been melted down, the Art Newspaper reported.

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan named his toilet “America” to reflect the excess of the US — and it was a controversial exhibit for years at the Guggenheim, where visitors were allowed to use it as guards stood outside.

The museum caused a stink in 2018 when it offered to send the potty to the White House for then-President Donald Trump’s rump.

The gold throne was then taken to the UK, where it was displayed at the suitably named Blenheim Palace, the 187-room country estate that was home to wartime leader Churchill.

It had been on display just two days when it was ripped out and smuggled out in two cars just before 5 a.m. Sept. 14, 2019, the BBC said.

Because the object was fully installed for the exhibit, the thieves were forced to cut it away from pipes and other hardware, which caused flooding at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Creator Cattelan previously called the crime “deadly serious if even a little bit surreal since the subject of the robbery was a toilet.”

“At first, when they woke me up this morning with the news, I thought it was a prank: Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet?” Cattelan told the New York Times after the robbery.

“’America’ was the 1 percent for the 99 percent, and I hope it still is. I want to be positive and think the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood-inspired action … I wish it was a prank,” he said.