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Presiding judge Christopher Hehir called the Van Gogh painting a "
treasure" that could have been "
damaged or even destroyed" in the
. The judge told the activists: "You couldn't have cared
if the painting was damaged or not. You had no
to do what you did to Sunflowers. You clearly think your
give you the right to commit
when you feel like it. You do not." He added: "Soup might have seeped through the glass." In their defence, the protestors said that
to throwing the soup, they checked to see if the painting was protected by the glass. Museum
worried the soup could have dripped through the
glass.