LONDON (AP) – Two climate protesters were arrested yesterday for spraying orange paint on the ancient Stonehenge monument in southern England, police said.
The latest act by Just Stop Oil was condemned by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a “disgraceful act of vandalism”.
The incident came just a day before thousands are expected to gather at the 4,500-year-old stone circle to celebrate the summer solstice – the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.
English Heritage, which manages the site, said it was “extremely upsetting” and said curators were investigating the damage. Just Stop Oil meanwhile said on the social media platform X that the paint was made of corn starch and would dissolve in the rain. Wiltshire Police said the pair were arrested on suspicion of damaging one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Stonehenge was built on the flat lands of Salisbury Plain in stages starting 5,000 years ago, with the unique stone circle erected in the late Neolithic period about 2,500 BC.
Some of the stones, the so-called bluestones, are known to have come from southwest Wales, nearly 240 kilometres away, but the origins of others remain a mystery.
Just Stop Oil is one of many groups around Europe that have gained attention – and received a lot of blowback – for disrupting sporting events, splashing paint and food on famous works of art and interrupting traffic to draw attention to global warming.
The group said it acted in response to the Labour Party’s recent election manifesto. Labour has said if it wins the election on July 4, it would not issue further licences for oil and gas exploration. Just Stop Oil backs the moratorium but said it wasn’t enough.
