Just Stop Oil activists found guilty of criminal damage after throwing soup over Van Gogh's Sunflowers

July 25, 2024

Two Just Stop Oil activists have been found guilty of criminal damage after throwing soup over Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting.

Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both aged 22, threw a can of Heinz tomato soup over the masterpiece at the National Gallery in London in October 2022.

At the time the gallery said there was "minor damage" to the frame of the famous artwork, which has an estimated value of £72.5m.

A video of the demonstration showed the two women wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts glueing one hand each to the wall below the painting, which is protected by a pane of glass.

Plummer, from Clapham, and Holland, of Newcastle, were found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

Both had denied the charge.

The stunt was carried out as the group tried to stop the government from issuing all new oil and gas licences.

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