Two climate activists have been jailed in U.K. for dousing Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting with soup. pair of protestors are from Just Stop Oil (JSO), environmental group focused on highlighting issue of climate change caused by fossil fuels. One of activists received sentence of two years in prison. The other will serve 20 months. In October 2022, protestors threw two cans of tomato soup over Van Gogh's priceless 1888 painting at London's National Gallery. They then knelt beneath iconic work of art and glued their hands to the wall. The soup did not harm painting, but it did over $13,000 of damage to picture frame.
Presiding judge Christopher Hehir called Van Gogh painting "cultural treasure" that could have been "seriously damaged or even destroyed" in attack. The judge told activists: "You couldn't have cared less if the painting was damaged or not. You had no right to do what you did to Sunflowers. You clearly think your beliefs give you right to commit crimes when you feel like it. You do not." He added: "Soup might have seeped through glass." In their defence, the protestors said that prior to throwing soup, they checked to see if the painting was protected by glass. Museum staff worried the soup could have dripped through protective glass.
