Thieves Gets into Palace, Stealing Gold Toilet Worth Over N5 Billion, Location Announced

• Sledgehammer-wielding thieves stole a £2.8m gold toilet from Blenheim Palace in just five minutes, a court heard
• The artwork, created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and titled America, was fully functioning when it was taken in September 2019
• Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC stated that the meticulously planned burglary involved five men who drove into the palace grounds in two stolen vehicles

Oxford, England – Sledgehammer-wielding thieves who smashed their way into Blenheim Palace managed to steal a £2.8m gold toilet in just five minutes, a court heard.

The toilet, an artwork by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was fully functioning while on exhibit at Blenheim Palace, the Oxfordshire country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born, when it was stolen in September 2019.

Details of the theft

The 18-carat gold toilet, titled America, weighed approximately 98kg and had been insured for $6m (£4.75m), the prosecution told Oxford Crown Court.

The gold itself was believed to be worth about £2.8m at the time of the theft. Michael Jones, 39, from Oxford, pleaded not guilty in January to stealing the artwork in an overnight raid on 14 September 2019.

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Prosecutor's statement

Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC revealed that the sledgehammers were left at the scene.

"The burglary was carefully planned and swiftly carried out," Christopher said. "The men, five of them it appears, drove through locked wooden gates into the grounds of Blenheim Palace shortly before 5am in two stolen vehicles, an Isuzu truck and a VW Golf. They drove across a field, up to the front steps, and smashed and broke in through a window. They knew precisely where to go, broke down the wooden door to the cubicle where the toilet was fully plumbed in, removed it, leaving water pouring out of the pipes, and drove away. All in all, they spent just five minutes in the building. Clearly, such an audacious raid would not have been possible without lots of preparation."

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Legit.ng earlier reported that data from the Ministry of Police Affairs for 2022 and 2023, as shown by Statisense, reveals a disturbing trend.

The statistics paint a grim picture. In 2022, the North East recorded 26 cases, the North West 29, the North Central 54, the South East 51, the South West 107, and the South South 53. By 2023, these numbers had escalated dramatically: the North East saw 32 cases, the North West 157, the North Central 115, the South East 128, the South West 136, and the South South-South 111.

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Source: Legit.ng