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Most people associate art heists with masterminds who hatch a daring plan to steal a valuable painting from a museum, but a quartet of alleged criminals in England is now being charged with the theft of a fairly unconventional piece: a toilet made of solid gold.
In 2016, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City gave visitors the chance to do their business in a bathroom that was home to “America,” the name given to the interactive exhibit Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan whipped up by fashioning a functional toilet out of 18-karat gold (worth around $4 billion on its own but as much as $6 million thanks to its reputation in the art world).
By the time the exhibit closed, around 100,000 people had waited in line for the chance to view (and possibly use) the toilet, which was eventually reinstalled in Blenheim Palace, a palatial British estate with a history tracing back to the early 1700s that was the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
On September 14, 2019, staff at the site of the toilet’s new home discovered it had been flooded with water after thieves dislodged the gold throne from the wall and made off with the piece. A $124,000 reward was offered for information leading to its retrieval and a number of arrests were made, but every single suspect was released without being charged.
According to The New York Times, four men have now been charged in connection with the heist and are expected to appear in court toward the end of November to answer charges concerning burglary and the transfer of criminal property.
It’s worth noting the fate of the toilet is still unknown, as it doesn’t appear the authorities recovered it in conjunction with the arrests. There’s speculation the gold was melted down and sold (which would make a bit more sense than attempting to offload a golden toilet on the black market), but it’s safe to assume more information will emerge over the course of the trial.