Activists throw soup over Van Gogh’s famous 'Sunflowers' painting worth over $84M, held

The famous 'Sunflowers' painting by the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh was ruined by two activist protesters who threw tomato soup at the artwork in London's National Gallery on October 14. The protesters belonging to the Just Stop Oil organisation were identified as Phoebe Plummer (21) from London and Newcastle's Anna Holland (20) who threw one can of Heinz tomato soup each.

In a video that has now gone viral, the two activists in Just Stop Oil T-shirts can be seen throwing the liquid before glueing themselves to the wall beneath the painting. Completed in 1888, the painting hung at the gallery is protected by a glass sheet and is estimated to have worth around $84.2 million, Metro reported. 

'What's more worth, art or life?'

"What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?" asked one of the activists amid the shocked gasps from other visitors. "The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of the oil crisis, fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.”

Both the activists were soon arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service on the charges of criminal damage and aggravated trespassing. The National Gallery staff told The Guardian that there has been some minor damage on the painting's frame but the artwork itself is unharmed. As the incident started gaining traction on social media, Just Stop Oil tweeted from its Twitter handle, "Keep giving us new oil and gas, and you will keep getting soup".

The organisation shared a video in a tweet of one of the activists named Lora Johnson who threw paint at the Metropolitan Police HQ. "New oil and gas will lead to crop failure, food shortages and the collapse of law and order. Human civilisation as we know it is on the verge of collapse," the tweet read.