Activists threw tomato soup at “Sunflowers” by Vincent van Gogh, belonging to a London gallery, and another painting from the series, which was loaned from the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a temporary exhibition – reports Reuters.
The National Gallery announced that three people were arrested and the images remained intact.
The incident happened just hours after 23-year-old Phoebe Plummer and 22-year-old Anna Holland were convicted of throwing cans of tomato soup at the same London work of art in October 2022., and then sticking to the wall under the picture.
As prosecutors claim, the soup can then caused damage to the frame worth up to £10,000 (over PLN 50,000)and the painting, which had been behind a protective screen, was left intact and returned to exhibition later that day.
Plummer and Holland pleaded not guilty but were still convicted following a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court. Phoebe Plummer heard two-year prison sentence for criminal damage. Anna Holland was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Activists wanted to destroy the work of art. They will go to prison
Judge Christopher Hehir told the convicted activists: “You two You simply had no right to do what you did with 'Sunflowers', and your arrogance in thinking otherwise deserves the highest condemnation.”
Plummer retorted that she took part in the protests knowing she could be arrested and imprisoned and stated that she became a political prisoner.
– It is offensive to many people in other parts of the worldwho suffer persecution, imprisonment and sometimes death for their beliefs – replied Hehir.
Plummer was also sentenced on Friday to an additional three months in prison for a relatively recent crime involving disruption of the use of key national infrastructure.
Protests by the Just Stop Oil group. Activists on trial
Friday's sentences were issued in connection with a broader crackdown on protest movements in Great Britain and all over Europe.
Activists from Just Stop Oil have organized many attention-grabbing protests in recent years, and five members of the group were sentenced in July to at least four years in prison for conspiring to block London's M25 motorwaywhich was the longest sentence in the history of British non-violent protests.
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