Climate change protesters, on Friday, threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers” at London’s National Gallery on Friday, causing minor damage to the frame in the process.
The National Gallery, which says it houses one of the greatest collections of paintings in the world, said the ‘Sunflowers’, which dates to 1888, was one of its most popular.
“It is the painting that is most often reproduced on cards, posters, mugs, tea towels and stationery. It was also the picture that Van Gogh was most proud of,” the gallery says on its website.
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The Just Stop Oil campaign group, which has been holding protests for the last two weeks in the British capital shared a video which has not gone viral, showing two women throwing two tins of Heinz tomato soup over the painting after which they glued themselves to a wall.
Just Stop Oil said that the painting has an estimated value of more than $84 million.
The protest, reports have shown, is the latest by the group’s activists and comes after days in which they blocked roads around parliament and government departments to Britain halt all new oil and gas projects.
In a statement following the incident, the gallery said, “there is some minor damage to the frame but the painting is unharmed,”.
Police said that both women had been arrested for ‘criminal damage and aggravated trespass. Last Sunday, police said that more than 100 people had been arrested after a weekend of protest-related activity by environmental groups.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
