The artist whose solid gold toilet was stolen from Britain's Blenheim Palace said he hoped it had been taken in a "Robin Hood-inspired action", as police scrambled Sunday to locate it.
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan told the New York Times that when he first heard news of Saturday's pre-dawn theft of his fully-functioning work "America", he thought it was a prank.
"Who's so stupid to steal a toilet? I had forgotten for a second that it was made out of gold," he said, adding: "I wish it was a prank."
But he added: "Clearly we need to challenge ourselves on that."