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		</div><p>The creator of a solid gold toilet, reportedly worth £4.8m (€5.4m), which was stolen from Blenheim Palace is “praying” the theft is a prank.</p>
<p>The 18-carat working loo was ripped from a wood-panelled room at the stately home, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, in the early hours of Saturday.</p>
<p>Blenheim Palace chief executive Dominic Hare said Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, who created the sculpture named America, was “mortified” by claims he had orchestrated its theft in a Banksy-style prank.</p>
<p>Mr Hare told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: <em>“I think he would be mortified by that suggestion and has said so. That simply hasn’t happened here.</em></p>
<p><em>“But he is right. He feels like he is in a heist movie and I think it took him quite a few minutes to comprehend that this had actually happened.</em></p>
<p><em>“He was mortified, shocked, praying that it was a prank and that it would come back. Now he’s just reflecting, I think.”</em></p>
<p>Some sceptics have been slow to accept the theft at face value, with the image of artist Banksy shredding his famous Girl With A Balloon painting at Sotheby’s auctioneers still fresh in the mind of the art world.</p>
<p>Thames Valley Police believe a gang of thieves using at least two vehicles were responsible for the theft, and a 66-year-old man arrested on Saturday remains in police custody.</p>
<p>Detective Inspector Jess Milne said on Sunday: <em>“We are following a number of lines of inquiry and there will continue to be a police presence in and around the area of Blenheim Palace while our investigations continue.</em></p>
<p><em>“We are making every effort to locate the offenders and the toilet that was stolen.”</em></p>
<p>Initial reports had said the golden toilet was worth an estimated £1 million (€1.12m), but Mr Hare said it has been valued at about six million US dollars (€5.4m).</p>
<p>The sculpture hit the headlines last year after it was offered to US president Donald Trump by the chief curator of the Guggenheim in New York, its former home.</p>
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