Solid gold toilet stolen from Winston Churchill’s birthplace
LONDON — A unique solid gold toilet that was part of an art exhibit was stolen early Saturday from the home in England where Winston Churchill was born.
The toilet, valued at roughly $1.25 million, was the work of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. It was installed only two days earlier at Blenheim Palace, west of London, after previously being shown to appreciative audiences at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Police said the toilet was taken early Saturday by thieves who used at least two vehicles. Because it was connected to the palace’s plumbing system, police said the toilet’s removal caused “significant damage and flooding” to the building, a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with valuable art and furniture.
A 66-year-old man was arrested in the case, but he has not been identified or charged.
Inspector Richard Nicholls from Thames Valley Police said police think the thieves left the spacious property about 4:50 a.m. and that the toilet was the only item taken. Closed circuit TV footage is being studied in the investigation.
Prior to the theft, visitors to the Cattelan exhibition could book a three-minute appointment to use the toilet. This proved popular when the toilet was on display at the Guggenheim.
The artist intended the golden toilet to be a pointed satire about excessive wealth. Cattelan has previously said: “Whatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise.”
Legal briefs: Suspended judge pleads in underwear-theft case
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A suspended New York judge pleaded guilty to attempted burglary for trying to sneak into a neighbor’s home to steal her underwear.
Robert Cicale pleaded guilty Friday in Suffolk County court.
Prosecutors say the 50-year-old had several pairs of worn women’s underwear stuffed into his jacket and raincoat when he was arrested March 29, 2018, after leaving the neighbor’s home.
They say he admitted he entered the home on several occasions and stole panties from a hamper.
Cicale was removed from the bench after his arrest. He is expected to be sentenced Nov. 15 to five years of probation with sex offender status.
Stinky shoppers unoffended after store bans them
GREENWOOD, Miss. — You stink, stay out!
That’s the message from one Mississippi Delta convenience store to workers at a neighboring soybean oil mill.
The convenience store has a sign on its door stating “Notice: Bad Smelling Oil Mill People Please Do Not Enter.”
Anurag Randive, who manages the Greenwood, Miss., store, says the sign was posted about three months ago after customers complained about the odor of employees from the Express Grain oil mill across the street. He says he’s prevented some odorous workers from entering.
Randive says he hasn’t received any complaints.
Express Grain workers continue shopping at the store. Employee Michael Blount says workers who labor in the pits filled with stinking rotten soybeans send less smelly co-workers inside to buy snacks.
Blount says, “We know we stink.”