A thief who stole a golden toilet from Blenheim Palace – the country mansion where Winston Churchill was born – 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 (€5.9m).

Michael Jones, 39, was found guilty of burglary in Oxford Crown Court. He had used the fully functioning one-of-a-kind latrine – a satirical work titled “America” by Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan – as he did reconnaissance at Blenheim Palace the day before the theft, prosecutors said. He described the experience as “splendid.”

He returned before dawn on 14 September 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.”

Cattelan’s artwork poked fun at excessive wealth and weighed just over 98kg. The value of the gold at the time was £2.8 million (€3.3m).

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

The gold toilet has never been recovered but is believed to have been cut up and sold.

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

Sheen then worked to broker a deal with Fred Doe to cash in on the haul, prosecutors said. In a series of text messages, Sheen referred to the loot as a “car,” but he was actually talking about the gold.

“I’ll link up with ya, I got something right up your path,” Sheen told Doe in one message. 

“I can sell that car for you in two seconds … so come and see me tomorrow,” Doe said in a reply.

Doe, 36, also known as Frederick Sines, was convicted of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

A fourth man charged in the conspiracy, Bora Guccuk, 41, was acquitted by jurors.