Following protests that included dumping soup over Vincent van Gogh’s painting of Sunflowers in the National Gallery, three climate activists were charged today in a London court with criminal damage.
Two women, 20 and 21, were charged in connection with the demonstration in which soup was thrown yesterday, while a third was charged with spray painting a moving sign at the central London headquarters of the Metropolitan Police.
During two quick sessions today at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, the three women entered not guilty pleas to criminal damage.
Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil protesters, who want the UK government to prevent new oil and gas projects, staged a number of demonstrations in London yesterday.
According to Just Stop Oil, protesters threw two cans of tomato soup over a famous oil painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh.
Additionally, the two protesters used glue to adhere to the gallery wall.
Ola Oyedepo, the prosecutor, claimed that although the frame was damaged, the two did not destroy the oil painting, which was protected by a glass case.
The painting, one of several versions of Sunflowers that Van Gogh painted in the late 1880s, was cleaned and returned to its place in the National Gallery that afternoon.
The women were granted bail by district judge Tan Irkam with the restriction that they not wear paint or adhesive materials in a public setting.
In connection with yesterday’s protests, police reported that they made about 28 arrests and released 25 others on bond pending additional investigation. Today, police arrested a further 26 people after Just Stop Oil protesters blocked a major road in east London. A few protesters stuck themselves to the pavement.
Just Stop Oil’s disruptive strategies, which include focusing on museum artworks, have attracted attention and criticism. Activists attached themselves to John Constable’s The Hay Wain in the National Gallery and the frame of an early replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper at London’s Royal Academy of Arts in July.
During the past two weeks of demonstrations against the UK government’s response to climate change, activists have also stopped bridges and intersections all around London.
The latest wave of demonstrations came as Prime Minister Liz Truss’ Conservative government opened a new licensing round for oil and gas operations in the North Sea and reversed a 2019 ban on fracking in England.
According to environmentalists, the UK government is sabotaging efforts to combat climate change.
After soup was thrown at a Van Gogh painting, activists appeared in a UK court.
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