Four men have been charged with stealing an 18-carat gold toilet from an English country house in 2019, judicial sources announced yesterday.
The £4.8 million ($5.9 million) toilet was stolen in September 2019 from Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, near Oxford, southern England.
The piece is one of the main attractions in an exhibition by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at the palace, which was the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough and witnessed the birth of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
This 18th-century luxury residence is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which decides whether cases in England and Wales should go to court, said the four men, aged between 35 and 39, will appear in court in Oxford on November 28.
James Shinn (age 39) faces two counts of theft and conspiracy to transfer criminal property and criminal transfer of property.
Also, Michael Jones (age 38) faces theft charges, while Fred Doe (age 35) and Bora Kokok (age 39) are charged with conspiracy to criminally transfer property, according to a Justice Department police report.
Visitors can book appointments to use the precious gold toilet, but only for three minutes at a time to reduce the waiting list.
The toilet was used by more than 100,000 people during the year it was on display at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
British police said at the time that thieves broke into Blenheim Palace while it was closed, stole a toilet, disconnected it from the sewage system, and caused “severe damage and flooding”.
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