Golden tub vanishes in Japan

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2007

TOKYO (AFP) — A bathtub made of gold has disappeared from a Japanese resort hotel, police said Wednesday, adding they had no clues to help them catch the cunning thief or thieves.

The 71-centimetre (28-inch) long tub weighs 80 kilograms (175 pounds) and has an estimated value of 120 million yen (one million dollars).

"We don't know who stole the bathtub or how," a police spokesman said.

The bathtub was usually chained to the door with a padlock when the room was closed but the chain was cut, public broadcaster NHK reported.

The Kominato Hotel Mikazuki, a resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, said the tub was made of 18-carat gold.

Some 100,000 people have bathed in it, the hotel said on its website.

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