Protesters charged after throwing tomato soup at Van Gogh painting in London gallery

Two anti-fossil fuel protesters, who were filmed throwing tomato soup at Van Gogh’s sunflowers at a gallery in London on Friday, have been charged with criminal damages.

They then glued it to the wall below the National Gallery painting.

In a statement posted to Twitter on Friday, the gallery confirmed the incident in Room 43, where the sunflowers were on display, and provided an update on its condition.

“There are some minor scratches on the frame, but the painting is fine. In a subsequent tweet, the gallery explained that the painting was protected by glass.”

A third associate has also been charged with another attack on the iconic ‘New Scotland Yard’ sign outside London’s main police headquarters, according to the London Metropolitan Police.

All three are linked to Just Stop Oil, which represents a coalition of groups working together to stop the UK government from obtaining new licenses for fossil fuel exploration, development and production.

A total of 28 arrests have been made in connection with protests in central London on Friday. The other 25 people are out on bail pending further investigation, according to a statement.

Friday’s incident is the latest in a series of protests targeting high-profile works of art to draw attention to the role of fossil fuels in climate change.

In July, Just Stop Oil members were glued to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

In the same month, the group’s activists were nailed to a masterpiece in the National Gallery, and members of the Italian Climate Activist Organization were nailed to Botticelli’s Primavera in Florence.

Just Stop Oil took Friday’s action “to coincide with the planned launch of a new round of oil and gas licensing” in the UK, according to a statement.

Just Stop Oil took Friday’s action “to coincide with the planned launch of a new round of oil and gas licensing” in the UK, according to a statement.