Gold Toilet stolen from English Palace

February 28, 2025

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A valuable toilet made of 18-carat gold was stolen from Blenheim Palace, England, in a daring burglary on September 14, 2019.

The toilet, an artwork named America by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, was worth over NZ$10.6 million and had been on display for visitors to use. Prosecutors believe the thieves took less than five minutes to remove it, causing water damage to the historic site.

During a trial at Oxford Crown Court, prosecutor Julian Christopher called it an “audacious raid.” On the night of the theft, a group of men crashed through the gates in two stolen vehicles, broke a palace window, and swiftly removed the golden toilet.

The toilet has never been recovered, but authorities suspect it was cut up and sold as gold.

Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the birthplace of British leader Winston Churchill, suffered significant damage from the theft. The case highlights how even highly secure locations can be targeted by determined thieves.

Article written by Milli Banbury

This article was written using AI as an assistive tool for research, writing, and proofreading.
The te reo Māori version of this article was translated with AI assistance. While care has been taken to keep it accurate, if you spot anything that doesn't read quite right, please let us know

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Digital Thinking

Learning Options

Recall Questions

Thinking questions

Digital Thinking

Janie wrote an account of a science project that she did at her primary school. Read her first draft. It contains some errors.

The Experiment

We had a library lesson at school. I read about a great experiment. It was for my science project. I decided to copy it. Before I could carry out the experiment, I had to collect a glass bottle, a hard-boiled egg, and some match’s. When it was time to present my project I told the class that I would make the egg go into the bottle. I asked my teacher to light the match and drop it in the bottle for me. Next, I put the peeled egg on top of the bottle opening. When the match had used up all the oxygen inside the bottle. The egg was sucked right in. I was so relieved that the experiment had worked. All my classmates were really impressed. My teacher said, “well done Janie!”