Shocking footage has emerged online of two protestors donning t-shirts that read ‘Just Stop Oil,’ throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s iconic Sunflowers painting at London’s National Gallery.
Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups lobbying the UK government to end all new oil and gas licensing and production.
The video showed the environmentalists throwing the tinned soup at the painting, before gluing themselves to the wall in the gallery.
Other observers of art can be heard gasping as the incident occurred, with one man calling for security as the priceless piece of art was vandalised.
One of the demonstrators told The Guardian: “What is worth more, art of life?
“Is it worth more than food, worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?
“The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis. Fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup,’ they added, as they waved a can of Heinz tomato soup.
Just Stop Oil tweeted: ‘It’s time to step up and stand up for what’s right.’
Additional footage then showed a security guard filtering fellow gallery-goers away from filming the incident on their phones.
The 1889 version of Sunflowers, which is protected by a sheet of glass, is among the most famous paintings by Van Gogh.
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