Police in a Japanese city are trying to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of a 176-pound bathtub lined with 18-carat gold. The bathtub, which is worth nearly $1 million, went missing on Wednesday from a men's bathroom in a resort hotel.

According to the police, officers went to the Kominato Hotel Mikazuki Wednesday after the hotel's staff reported the golden tub was missing. An examination of the bathroom revealed that the chain that fixed the bathtub to a door in the bathroom had been cut off.

However, police found no sign of dragging on the floor, an indication that more than one person might have been involved in the theft.

According to local media reports, the tub, which was flanked by two crane statues facing each other, was located in a shared bathroom on the 10th floor of the hotel. A similar tub in the women's shared bathroom is still in place, a police spokesman told BBC news.

Guests were allowed to use the tub for free, but the luxury was available only for a few hours in the afternoon.