When a solid gold toilet worth £4.8m was installed at Blenheim Palace, the founder of its art foundation proudly boasted: "It’s not going to be the easiest thing to nick”.

But early on Saturday morning, just two days after it went on display, a gang of burglars did just that. Breaking into the Palace, they ripped it from the wall and drove off, leaving "significant damage and flooding".

The 18-carat lavatory, called “America”, was the centrepiece of a new exhibition by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at the Duke of Marlborough's country home where Winston Churchill was born.

It had been plumbed into the water system so that visitors could fully engage with the artwork, as long as they obeyed a three-minute time slot.

However, just hours after the launch party for the show finished, police say thieves using at least two vehicles smashed their way into the property, and made off with the expensive artwork.