Climate activists of the ‘Just Stop Oil’ group sprayed orange powder on to the stones of Stonehenge, the prehistoric rock monument in Wiltshire, England, on Wednesday. The attack happened a day before the summer solstice (June 20) when crowds gather at the site. The monument, thought to have been built in several stages between 3000 BCE and 1500 BCE, was likely significant, historically, as a gathering place for rituals during the summer and winter solstices, as the position of the stones aligns in specific ways with the sun’s trajectory on these days.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident, the police said.
In a statement the group said two of its members had “decorated” Stongehenge to demand an end to oil and gas burning and extraction by 2030.
“Standing inert for generations works well for stones – not climate policy,” the group said.
The U.K.’s top leaders, normally at loggerheads with each other with a general election three weeks away, found common ground over the attack
“’Just Stop Oil’ is a disgrace,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on social media site X.
“The damage done to Stonehenge is outrageous. Just Stop Oil are pathetic,” said leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer, who is the frontrunner for the Prime Minister’s post.
‘Just Stop Oil’ members have attacked a number of culturally significant objects. Two activists in their 80s - a priest and a retired teacher - had smashed the case around the Magna Carta in the British Museum in May. In January, two other activists threw soup on the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris.
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