A GOLDEN toilet appeared in a town days after thieves stole a similar but far more expensive one from Blenheim Palace.

The luscious lavatory mysteriously sprung up in Highworth near Faringdon earlier this week.

Coun Paul Newton Smith found the loo outside the new Visit Highworth museum and information centre in the town’s high street.

ALSO READ: Maurizio Cattelan's gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace

He said: “I came over to the centre on Monday night to do some work and noticed it right outside the window.

"My photo of it generated a few laughs and jokes online but a few days later, it was gone. It just came and went, very strange.

"Someone's put a lot of effort into it - it's a proper toilet and lid spray painted gold - so it's weird that it just disappeared so soon. Hopefully it'll turn up again.

"Everyone's talking about it, it's a bit of fun.

ALSO READ: 66-year-old man released on bail after toilet stolen from Blenheim

"The information centre's officially opening on Saturday but this isn't like some sort of publicity thing we did, I genuinely don't know who did it or why."

The arrival of the curious commode follows the much-publicised theft of a solid gold toilet worth £4.8 million from Blenheim Palace earlier this month.

The source of the cheap knock-off is unknown but it has now mysteriously disappeared from the scene.

ALSO READ:Blenheim Palace reopens after gold toilet stolen in burglary

The Visit Highworth information centre and museum aims to bring more visitors to the town. It opens tomorrow from 10.30am.