According to prosecutors, it took thieves less than five minutes to swipe the 18-carat gold artwork, which has never been recovered.

CCTV footage showing the moment thieves stole a solid gold toilet worth £4.8m has been shown in court. The work of art, called America, was taken from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire in the early hours of Saturday, 14 September 2019.

They smashed through locked wooden gates into the grounds of Blenheim Palace before breaking in through a window, jurors heard.

Michael Jones, 39, pleaded not guilty in January to stealing artwork in an overnight raid in the early hours of September 14, 2019. And Frederick Sines, 36, also known as Frederick Doe, and Bora Guccuk, 41, each deny one count of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

Entitled “America” (2016), the stolen work is a fully-functioning toilet made of 18-karat, 103 kilogram gold that was situated in the guides’ restroom. Though, visitors were allowed to view the work via booking time slots to use the toilet.

A 40-year-old man from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, has been found guilty of stealing a gold toilet in 2019.

A man accused of the theft of a £4.8m golden toilet searched for online news articles related to the crime in the days following the heist, a court has heard. The artwork, called America, was taken from from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire in the early hours of 14 September 2019,

Palace staff have described the moment thieves stole a gold toilet worth £2.8million - but insured for £4.8million - from Blenheim Palace in a five-minute "audacious raid". The fully functioning 18-carat gold artwork - titled "America" - was taken from the Oxfordshire stately home in the early hours of 14 September 2019.