Activists arrested after throwing soup on Van Gogh painting in London After spilling soup on Vincent Van Gogh‘s “Sunflowers” artwork in London, environmental activists were detained. The demonstrators “did minor damage to the frame but the painting is unscathed,” according to the gallery. The protest organization “Just Stop Oil” has organized a number of high-profile demonstrations to call for a halt to U.K. government authorisation for the exploration, development, and production of fossil fuels. The gallery on Trafalgar Square reported that two protestors from the organization “threw a substance over a picture” and “glued themselves to a wall” shortly after 11 a.m., prompting police to make two arrests for criminal damage and aggravated trespass (10 a.m. GMT). Police claimed to have removed the protestors’ glue and transported them to a police station in the heart of London. According to the National Gallery, the two demonstrators threw a “red material” at Van Gogh’s artwork “Sunflowers,” and they “appeared to stick themselves to the wall next to it.” Police were called, the room was cleared of guests, and it continued. Two ladies are seen throwing soup cans at the famous mural in a video that Damien Gayle, the environment correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, put on Twitter and which the eco-activist group retweeted. “What is worth more, art or life?” one of the demonstrators shouts after they have glued themselves to the wall. Is the preservation of a painting more important to you than the preservation of our world and its inhabitants? she queries. Activists arrested after throwing soup on Van Gogh painting in London The soup strikes the canvas in the footage, and someone can be heard exclaiming “oh my God” and “security!” as the soup spills out of the frame and onto the ground. Two cans of Heinz tomato soup were thrown over the painting by Just Stop Oil campaigners, according to a statement, to demand that the British government stop all new oil and gas projects. The protest’s slogan was later tweeted to be “Choose life above art.” The group argued that although human ingenuity and creativity are on display in this exhibition, our government’s inaction regarding the climate and cost of living crises is destroying our history. According to the activist group, the painting is worth an estimated $84.2 million. According to the National Gallery’s website, the gallery bought the signed 1888 picture in 1924. In total, Van Gogh produced seven variations of “Sunflowers,” five of which are on view to the public in galleries and museums around the globe. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which is one of them, stated that it was keeping “a careful eye on developments” that might have an impact on its own security procedures. The incident was denounced by well-known Dutch “art detective” Arthur Brand, who has earned the moniker “Indiana Jones of the Art World” for saving important works of art. “There are countless ways to draw attention to the climate change issues. One of them shouldn’t be this, “said he. The assault occurred a week after Suella Braverman, the British Home Secretary, threatened direct-action climate demonstrators, accusing them of deploying “guerrilla methods” to cause “chaos and misery” in the public. Whether you’re with Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain, or Extinction Rebellion, you cross a line when you violate the law, and for that reason, we’ll keep locking you up, she added. Just Stop Oil has already used adhesive to attack a number of other well-known paintings. Two protesters attached their hands to the canvas of Van Gogh’s “Peach Trees in Blossom” at the Courtauld Gallery in London in June using glue. Supporters bonded their hands to the National Gallery’s frame of John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” in July. The canvas was first covered with a “reimagined rendition” of the pastoral scene that included a landscape that was polluted, scattered with wildfires, and flown over by aircraft. They remained captivated to a life-size replica of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at the Royal Academy in London that same month. Just Stop Oil has staged numerous demonstrations that have been blocking major roadways recently. Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Met Police, expressed his frustration with the protests by saying that he was “upset so many officers are being pulled away from dealing with issues that matter most to communities.”