Two men have been found guilty of stealing a solid gold toilet worth $6 million from a palace in Britain where Winston Churchill was born. Michael Jones, 39, stole the toilet, which was part of an art installation named âAmericaâ, from Blenheim Palace in Sept. 2019. He was assisted by James Sheen, 40 from Oxford, who planned the robbery and helped break the toilet into pieces which were sold separately and have never been recovered. âThis was not a bog standard burglaryâit was an audacious heist on one of the most famous palaces in this country,â said Judge Ian Pringle KC as he summed up the evidence against the defendants. âIt was a bold and brazen burglary, with great rewards for anyone who got away with it.â The toilet, created by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, was designed to satirize excessive wealth. It had previously been on display at New Yorkâs Guggenheim museum and was once offered to Donald Trump during his first term when the president asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting. It had only been on display at the Blenheim Palace for two days before it was swiped by the thieves, who flooded the UNESCO world heritage site on their way out while escaping with the loot.
