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PIC OF THE DAY: Golden toilet plonked outside royal palace after £4.75m loo stolen

A fully-functioning 18-carat toilet, which had been installed as an artwork at the Oxfordshire country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born, was stolen, but now a replacement has emerged

The golden toilet has returned
The golden toilet has returned

A golden toilet has been placed outside Blenheim Palace – on the ironically named Water Terraces.

Why is it there?

Well, earlier this year a man avoided jail over the theft of a £4.75 million gold toilet from Blenheim Palace. The fully-functioning 18-carat toilet, which had been installed as an artwork at the Oxfordshire country house where Sir Winston Churchill was born, was stolen in a raid in the early hours of September 14, 2019.

It was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and was a star attraction in an exhibition when it was stolen. Frederick Doe, 36, also known as Frederick Sines, was handed a suspended sentence at Oxford Crown Court for his part in a plot to steal the loo.

What's been said?

A spokesperson for Blenheim Palace said: “We take the theft of any property extremely seriously, but with the incredible global interest in the Golden Toilet theft and the recent court case coming to a conclusion, we thought some light hearted amusement with a budget alternative in our gardens, would raise a smile and become an unlikely new stop-off point for visitors to our stunning gardens.”

Who took the photo?

Pete Seaward has been a photographer for more than 30 years, winning numerous industry awards including being voted one of Luerzer's Achives 200 best Ad photographers in the world and won 'travel photographer of the year 2011' by the British Travel Press.

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