Stolen Gold Toilet: Artist Hopes for "Robin Hood

Following the theft of a gold toilet in the UK, the artist of the plant has expressed the hope that it is a "Robin Hood-inspired action". He had the deed initially considered a prank, said the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan the newspaper "New York Times". "Who's dumb enough to steal a toilet? I forgot for one second that it's made of gold."

The work "America" ​​had been stolen from the Blenheim Palace in the English county of Oxfordshire on the night of Saturday. At the scene in the more than 300-year-old palace in the county of Oxfordshire "considerable damage and a flood," the police said.

The police claimed to arrest a 66-year-old suspect on Saturday. The investigators assume, however, that several perpetrators were involved in the theft and used at least two vehicles. The artwork has not been found yet.

Leon Neal / Getty Images

Blenheim Palace: The castle near Oxford is the birthplace of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill

The artist had said about his Goldklo, this is "one-percent art for the 99 percent" (of the population). "I hope it still is," Cattelan told the newspaper. "I want to be positive and think that the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood inspired action." So that she had someone stolen to give the poorer something from the profit.

The Blenheim Palace CEO, Dominic Hare, has announced that the toilet is estimated to cost five to six million dollars, or about 4.5 to 5.4 million euros. Previously, the value was stated at the equivalent of 1.13 million euros. It is not excluded that the thieves melt the artwork, he told the BBC.

** OFFICIAL STATEMENT **

Following the Thames Valley Police Statement we can confirm 'America', the piece by Maurizio Cattelan has been stolen in the early hours of this morning.

We are saddened by this extraordinary event, but so relieved no-one was hurt.

The Goldklo had already been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York from September 2016. There it had been installed in a toilet room and could be used for many months by the visitors. Before that, long queues always formed.

The loo was offered on loan to the US President Donald Trump, according to the Washington Post. The curator responsible for design in the White House had asked the Guggenheim whether the painting "Landscape in the Snow" by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh was available on loan. The museum refused and instead offered the toilet in consultation with the artist. "It's of course very valuable and somewhat fragile, but we would provide all the installation and care instructions," the newspaper quoted from a letter from the museum to the White House.