Two men, James Sheen and Michael Jones, have been sentenced to prison for their roles in the 2019 theft of Winston Churchill’s golden toilet from Blenheim Palace in England. The artwork, titled “America” by Maurizio Cattelan, was valued at $6 million.
Sheen, 44, pleaded guilty to burglary, transferring criminal property, and conspiracy to transfer criminal property. He received a four-year sentence. Jones, 39, was found guilty of burglary after a trial in March and sentenced to 27 months in prison.
Prosecutors described the theft as an “audacious” crime, but said that despite the planning involved, the perpetrators left behind evidence. The men used a car and truck to smash through gates at the palace before entering through a broken window. They then ripped off the toilet, causing a small flood in the room.
Surveillance footage showed several men rolling the toilet into a trunk. Investigators found clues at the crime scene, including a sledgehammer with Sheen’s DNA on it and hundreds of gold fragments on his sweatpants.
The golden toilet had become a social media sensation after being installed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016. Maurizio Cattelan, the artist who created the piece, has said that it was meant to comment on inequality.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/world/europe/golden-toilet-theft-sentencing.html