Two British climate activists who nearly destroyed Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” when they threw tomato soup at an artwork two years ago were sentenced to at least 20 months in prison on Friday.
Pheobe Plummer, 23, received a two-year sentence and Anna Holland, 22, was jailed for 20 months.
In October 2022, the couple threw two cans of Heinz tomato soup over art in London’s National Gallery before kneeling down in front of it. Then they stuck their hands to the wall under the painting.
According to Just Stop Oil, the pair wanted the UK government to stop all new oil and gas projects.
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In a post written to X at the time, the activist group blamed the current economic turmoil and crisis critical climate confronting the world with fossil fuels, asking: “Is art more important than life? Is it more important than food?”
The two were found guilty of wounding by a judge in July.
Over the past few years, Just Stop Oil has been running a series of high-profile stunts, including major sporting events and on Britain’s transport networks. The “sunflower” attack was the second artwork at the National Gallery targeted for 2022, after two Just Stop Oil activists attached it to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain.”
Van Gogh’s 1888 masterpiece, painted in Arles in southern France, was unscathed in the 2022 attack as it was covered in protective glass.
However, the gold-colored frame sustained $13,000 worth of damage. Museum staff were concerned that the soup might drip and cause irreparable damage to the painting.
In June, activists and the party he blew several ancient stones of British fame Stonehenge area with orange substance. A video released by the group showed two activists running towards the ancient stones of the UNESCO World Heritage Site with what looked like fire extinguishers and spraying them with what the group said was “orange paint powder.” Two people were arrested.
In sentencing the two activists on Friday, Judge Christopher Hehir said the artwork could have been “seriously damaged or destroyed.”
Hehir was also a judge in the case against Roger Hallam, the founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, another environmental campaigning group, and sentenced him to five years.
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On Friday, he heads to Plummer.
“You obviously think that your beliefs give you the right to commit crimes if you feel like it,” he said. “You don’t say.”
Plummer, who has pleaded not guilty, told the court he would accept “with a smile” any verdict he received.
“I am not the only one who is being sentenced today, or those I was arrested with, but the foundations of democracy itself,” he said.
Five days after his guilty verdict in July, Plummer was arrested for spray-painting billboards at Heathrow Airport.
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Lawyer Raj Chada, defending Holland, said the two women checked whether the sunflowers were protected by a glass cover before throwing the soup.
A number of Just Stop Oil supporters gathered outside the courthouse, some holding placards depicting historical figures imprisoned for activism.
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