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UK Police Charge 2 Women After Soup Thrown at Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'


Activists of "Just Stop Oil" glue their hands to the wall after throwing soup at a van Gogh's "Sunflowers" painting at the National Gallery in London, Britain, Oct. 14, 2022. (Just Stop Oil/Handout via Reuters)
Activists of "Just Stop Oil" glue their hands to the wall after throwing soup at a van Gogh's "Sunflowers" painting at the National Gallery in London, Britain, Oct. 14, 2022. (Just Stop Oil/Handout via Reuters)

Two women have been charged with criminal damage after climate change protesters threw soup on Vincent van Gogh’s painting "Sunflowers" at London's National Gallery, British police said Saturday.

A video posted by the Just Stop Oil campaign group, which has been holding protests for the last two weeks in the British capital, showed two of its activists on Friday throwing tins of Heinz tomato soup over the painting, one of five versions on display in museums and galleries around the world.

The gallery said the incident had caused minor damage to the frame, but the painting was unharmed. It later went back on display.

Police said two women, aged 21 and 20, would appear later at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with "criminal damage to the frame of van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting".

Another activist will also appear in court, accused of damaging the sign outside the New Scotland Yard police headquarters in central London.

Police said in total 28 people had been arrested during protests on Friday.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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