A thief who swiped a golden toilet – after using it – from an English palace that is popular with tourists has been convicted along with an accomplice who helped cash in on the spoils of the 18-carat work of art insured for nearly £5 million (more than CDN$9.3 million).

Michael Jones had used the fully functioning one-of-a-kind latrine as he did reconnaissance at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire – the country mansion where British wartime leader Winston Churchill was born – the day before the theft, prosecutors said. He described the experience as “splendid.”

He returned before dawn on Sept. 14, 2019, with at least two other men armed with sledgehammers and crowbars. They smashed a window and pried the toilet from its plumbing within five minutes, leaving a damaging flood in their wake as they escaped in stolen vehicles.

“This was an audacious raid which had been carefully planned and executed,” prosecutor Shan Saunders said. “But those responsible were not careful enough, leaving a trail of evidence in the form of forensics, CCTV footage and phone data.”

The purloined potty has never been recovered and is believed to have been cut up and sold.

The satirical work, titled “America” by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, poked fun at excessive wealth. It weighed just over 98 kg. The value of the gold at the time was £2.8 million pounds ($5.2 million).

The piece had previously been on display at The Guggenheim Museum in New York. The museum had offered the work to US President Donald Trump during his first term in office after he had asked to borrow a Van Gogh painting.

Jones, 39, was convicted of burglary in Oxford Crown Court.

The theft was planned by James Sheen, 40, who previously pleaded guilty to burglary, conspiracy and transferring criminal property.

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