After throwing soup at Van Gogh’s painting, Just Stop Oil group targets Harrods showroom

Protesters of Just Stop Oil, an environmental activist group, spray-painted luxury department store Harrods in bright orange colour on Thursday in central London, The Guardian reported. The group has consecutively performed such acts in the past 20 days in the United Kingdom to demand the end of all “new oil and gas”.

On Thursday morning, at around 9 am, about 20 members of the group assembled outside Harrods. A video uploaded on the official Twitter handle of Just Stop Oil featured a man and a woman holding cylinders and spraying paint on the clear windows of the store. Another clip displayed the duo being escorted inside the store by security guards.

As the duo targetted Harrods, other protesters of the group halted traffic on the nearby Brompton Road, where some glued themselves onto the surface. The Metropolitan police stated that the protesters were removed by officers, and also confirmed that the duo that vandalised the store had been apprehended on the grounds of alleged criminal damage. Later on Thursday, the Metropolitan police said that 18 demonstrators were taken into custody for allegedly blocking the road. 

On the other hand, a spokesperson for the environmental group accused the UK government of being “incompetent.” “Our government is criminally incompetent and morally bankrupt. They are actively seeking to accelerate fossil fuel production, which will kill millions of people, while failing to address the worst cost of living crisis this country has ever seen,” he said.

“Vulnerable people will be freezing to death in their homes this winter while the government refuses to tax the rich and the big energy companies that are profiting from our misery,” the spokesperson added.

The Van Gogh painting incident

Thursday's incident comes days after two Just Stop Oil protesters tossed tomato soup at Sunflowers, a famous Vincent Van Gogh painting in London's National Gallery. The duo was identified as 21-year-old Phoebe Plummer and 20-year-old Anna Holland. The painting, which dates back to 1888, has an estimated value of $84.2 million, Metro reported. 

Throwing cans of Heinz tomato soup on October 14, the protesters said: "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? 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.”