An 18-carat solid gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace in the UK has been valued at €5.4m, its chief executive has said.
The fully functioning loo, named America and installed for an art exhibition at Winston Churchill's birthplace, was taken in the early hours today by a gang of thieves, Thames Valley Police said.
The theft of the sculpture from a wood-panelled room at the 18th-century Oxfordshire estate caused significant flood damage as it had been plumbed in for visitors to use.
Earlier reports had said it was worth an estimated £1m, but Blenheim Palace chief executive Dominic Hare said the artwork, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, is valued at about $6m (€5.4m).
He said: "We have a very sophisticated security operation and we have not had an incident like this in living memory.
"The events of the last 24 hours mean we may have reason to reconsider some of our systems.
"There is always a risk when you display valuable art to the public, but it is worth that risk, even now, it was still worth that risk."
A 66-year-old man has been arrested over the incident and the palace was closed to the public on Saturday.
The sculpture hit the headlines last year after it was offered to US president Donald Trump by the chief curator of the Guggenheim museum in New York, its former home.
Inspector Richard Nicholls from Thames Valley Police said: "A group of offenders broke into the palace and stole a high value toilet made out of gold that was on display.
"We believe they used at least two vehicles during the offence and left the scene at around 4.50am.
"The artwork has not been recovered at this time, but there is a thorough investigation being carried out."
