Four men have been charged with stealing an 18k gold toilet, valued at $9 million, from the English countryside mansion where Winston Churchill was born. What was this golden throne doing there in the first place? It was actually an art installation by Maurizio Cattelan—titled “America”—that had only been on show for a few days before it was nicked. The crime actually occurred in 2019 but the charges have just been brought. Unfortunately, the toilet still hasn’t been found. (Have they checked Mar-a-Lago?)
From ABC.net.au:
It was fully functioning, and prior to the theft, visitors to the exhibition could book a three-minute appointment to use it.
Police said that because the toilet had been connected to the palace’s plumbing system, its removal caused “significant damage and flooding” to the 18th-century building, a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with valuable art and furniture that draws thousands of visitors each year[…]
Cattelan intended the golden toilet to be satire about excessive wealth.
Previously he has said that “whatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise”.
