They steal gold toilets worth over a million dollars in a British palace

A unique gold toilet at an art exhibition was stolen Saturday in the beautiful English palace where Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, was born during the last world war.

The device, worth 1 million pounds (1.2 million dollars), is the work of the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It had been installed two days earlier at Blenheim Palace, in West London, after being exposed to the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Police said it had been stolen by thieves traveling in at least two vehicles. Because it was connected to the plumbing of the palace, his flight had caused "considerable damage and flooding" in a property clbadified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and full of valuable works of art and furniture.

A 66-year-old man has been arrested, but has not been formally charged or identified.

Inspector Richard Nicholls, of the Thames Valley Police, said the thieves had left the scene around 4:50 am without taking other objects. The police studied the videos taken by closed circuit cameras.

Before the flight, visitors to the Cattelan exhibition could reserve the use of the toilet for three minutes.

The artist wanted the gold toilets to be a satire of excessive wealth. "Eat what you eat, a $ 200 lunch or a $ 2 sausage, for the toilet, the result is the same," he said once.

Edward Spencer-Churchill told The Times that it would not be easy to steal the toilets as they were connected to the pipes of the palace.

"That's why, I do not intend to stay on guard," he said.

Inspector Jess Milne said that "the work of art has not been found yet, but we are conducting a thorough investigation to find her and bring the perpetrators to justice."