Montevideo  - An antique porcelain toilet valued at nearly 800,000 dollars has been put under police guard by the mayor of a local town while residents push for its sale.

Mayor Carmelo Vidalin took the precaution of round-the-clock potty protection after the newspaper El Pais reported Wednesday its estimated value, quoting an antique historian, Enriqe Costa.

A potty alarm system was installed immediately.

The toilet was manufactured in 1887 in France, with blue patterns, and was said to be only one of four of its type still in existence. It was brought to the Uruguayan province of Durazno, 180 kilometres north of the capital, by an Italian doctor, Emilio Penza.

The toilet is in a house purchased by the town several years ago for less than 80,000 dollars, and the town plans to open it for public viewing in the near future.

But some citizens are pushing for sale of the costly loo, saying the profits could be used to build public housing. (dpa)