Climate protesters throw soup on van Gogh's Sunflowers in London gallery
Just Stop Oil group wants the British government to halt new oil and gas projects
Climate protesters threw soup on Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers in London's National Gallery on Friday to protest fossil fuel extraction, but they caused no discernible damage to the glass-covered painting.
The group Just Stop Oil, which wants the British government to halt new oil and gas projects, said activists dumped two cans of Heinz tomato soup over the oil painting, one of the Dutch artist's most iconic works. The two protesters also glued themselves to the gallery wall.
The soup splashed across the glass that covered the painting and its gilded frame. The gallery said that "there is some minor damage to the frame but the painting is unharmed." The work is one of several versions of Sunflowers that Van Gogh painted in the late 1880s.
Two charged
London's Metropolitan Police said officers arrested two women, aged 21 and 20. They have been charged with causing criminal damage to the painting's frame, police said on Saturday.
"Specialist officers have now un-glued them and they have been taken into custody to a central London police station," the force said in a statement.
The group has drawn attention, and criticism, for targeting artworks in museums. In July, Just Stop Oil activists glued themselves to the frame of a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper at London's Royal Academy of Arts and to John Constable's The Hay Wain in the National Gallery.
Activists have also blocked bridges and intersections across London during two weeks of protests.
The wave of demonstrations comes as the British government opens a new licensing round for North Sea oil and gas exploration, despite criticism from environmentalists and scientists who say the move undermines the country's commitment to fighting climate change.