Two men have been jailed for their roles in the theft of a £5 million (€6m) gold toilet from Blenheim Palace in the UK.
Thieves smashed their way in and ripped out the fully-functioning 18-carat gold toilet during a raid in 2019.
James Sheen, 40, and Michael Jones, 39, were part of the gang who planned and carried out the burglary of the Oxfordshire stately home.
The toilet was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was a star attraction in an exhibition at Blenheim Palace, the house where former British prime minister Winston Churchill was born.
The heist took place hours after a glamorous launch party.
The distinctive toilet was split up or melted down and sold on soon after it was stolen and has never been recovered.
The toilet was stolen by sledgehammer-wielding thieves who smashed their way in, Oxford Crown Court heard.
Sheen, of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire had previously admitted burglary, conspiracy to transfer criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property.
Jones, of Oxford, was found guilty of burglary following a trial.
They drove through locked wooden gates into the grounds of the palace in two stolen vehicles before breaking in through a window.
Entitled 'America', the toilet weighed approximately 98kg, was insured for $6m and was made from gold which was itself worth about £3m.
Passing sentence, Judge Ian Pringle KC said: "This bold and brazen heist took no more than five-and-a-half minutes to complete."
Oxford Crown Court heard James Sheen was already serving over 19 years' imprisonment for attacks on cash machines, a museum burglary, and fraud, and was not due for release until 2032.
Sheen was jailed for four years and his sentence will run consecutively to the sentence he is currently serving.
"You were part of the gang of five men who smashed their way into Blenheim Palace that night and stole the hugely valuable golden toilet," the judge said.
"You were almost certainly the figure that carried the sledgehammer on which your DNA was found and which was used to sever the functioning toilet from its connecting pipes.
"Not to do so would be to send out a message that you did this without any penalty at all."
Judge Pringle jailed Jones for 27 months after concluding he could not be sure he was part of the gang that carried out the burglary.
"You paid visits on two occasions to Blenheim Palace in the days leading up to the burglary," he said.
"That your role was to carry out a reconnaissance of the museum, to know exactly where the golden toilet was situated and to work out the quickest route in and out of the palace, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
"Although you have no witnesses to where you were on the night in question, I cannot be sure that you were part of the group of burglars who broke into the palace that night."
