Stonehenge sprayed orange by Just Stop Oil protesters

Protesters sprayed part of Stonehenge with orange paint on Wednesday, calling on the British government to take action on climate change, a day before thousands are expected to flock to the 5,000-year-old site in southern England to celebrate the summer solstice.

A video shared on Wednesday A photo from Just Stop Oil, the environmental activist group responsible, shows two people running toward the monument and spraying the orange paint. People nearby shout “No” and “Stop him” while others try to pull the protesters away.

The group said in a statement that it “demands that our next government signs a legally binding treaty phasing out fossil fuels by 2030.” It added that the paint was made from corn flour, which washes off with rain. The protesters involved were identified as Niamh Lynch, 21, and Rajan Naidu, 73.

Local police said they arrested two people following the incident.

English Heritage, the charity that manages Stonehenge, said the site remained open. “This is obviously extremely concerning and our curators are investigating the extent of the damage,” it said on social media.

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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted after the incident that Just Stop Oil was “a disgrace.” Opposition leader Keir Starmer also expressed criticism, writing in a post that the “damage to Stonehenge is outrageous” and that “those responsible must face the full force of the law.”

In recent years, there have been numerous protests against historical objects and works of art. Activists have sprayed works of art such as the Mona Lisa and Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” with paint, soup and other substances.” to raise awareness of issues such as the climate crisis – and sparked an international appeal from museums to stop.

This week’s incident, however, appears to be “a small escalation,” said Shannon Gibson, a professor at the University of Southern California who studies global environmental politics and social movements. While previous incidents at museums usually left only superficial damage to the protective covering of a work of art or historical object, the protesters at Stonehenge sprayed paint directly onto a famous UNESCO World Heritage site. World Heritage.

Critics say such protests could scare away potential supporters of the climate justice movement and provide more of a spectacle than bring about change.

But Gibson said protests are meant to be a spectacle – and protests at places like museums and historic monuments reach individuals. that can be protected from the effects of climate change.

“We don’t need to protest on the islands, on the coasts or in the Arctic – they get it, they know it, they live it,” she said. “This says to the people who have the money, who make the decisions and who control the fossil fuels: ‘This affects you too.'”

By opposing an ancient structure that people “think could never change,” Gibson said, such protests “offer a “Comparing what has stood the test of time with what will not stand the test of time if we do not solve the climate crisis.”

Stonehenge’s unique stone circle was built around 2500 BC to align with the movements of the sun. On the summer solstice – the longest day of the year – thousands gather to watch the sunrise through a gap in the outer stone circle.

UNESCO describes the site as “the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world.”