Van Gogh paintings vandalized at a London gallery after 2 activists were sentenced in similar attack

A pair of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings at London’s National Gallery were vandalized on Friday by climate activists who threw what appeared to be tomato soup on them. This incident occurred shortly after two other activists were sentenced for a similar protest two years ago.

The paintings, part of Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” series, were unharmed thanks to protective glass coverings. The gallery confirmed that the works involved were *Sunflowers* (1888), from its own collection, and *Sunflowers* (1889), on loan from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The three activists, affiliated with the environmental group Just Stop Oil, were arrested after the paintings were removed for inspection and later returned to display. The gallery reopened the exhibition on the same day.

Just Stop Oil shared a video of the attack on social media, showing the activists pouring soup over the paintings in protest. This action was seemingly in response to the sentencing earlier that day of two other members of the group, Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22.

Plummer was sentenced to two years, and Holland received a 20-month sentence for their 2022 attack on another *Sunflowers* painting. In that protest, the women threw tomato soup at the artwork and glued their hands to the wall beneath it. Both were convicted of criminal damage in July.

In both the 2022 and Friday’s incidents, the activists wore Just Stop Oil T-shirts. The group has been advocating for the UK government to halt new oil and gas projects, often using high-profile stunts at sports events and transport hubs.

In Friday’s video, one activist claimed future generations would see them as “prisoners of conscience” and on the “right side of history.”

During the 2022 attack, the painting’s frame suffered £10,000 ($13,000) in damages. Although the artwork itself was protected, museum staff had feared that the soup might seep through and cause irreparable harm.

At Friday’s sentencing, Judge Christopher Hehir criticized the activists, warning that the painting could have been “seriously damaged or even destroyed.” He had also sentenced Roger Hallam, co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, to five years in a previous case.

Addressing Plummer directly, Hehir remarked, “You clearly think your beliefs give you the right to commit crimes when you feel like it. You do not.” Plummer, who represented herself and pleaded guilty, responded that she would accept the verdict “with a smile,” arguing that it wasn’t just her being sentenced, but “the foundations of democracy.”

Five days after her guilty verdict, Plummer was arrested again for spraying paint on departure boards at Heathrow Airport. Lawyer Raj Chada, defending Holland, noted that the women had ensured the *Sunflowers* painting was protected by glass before throwing the soup.

Source: WIProud