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The U.K. has jailed two climate activists for throwing soup at Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting. The protestors are from the environmental group Just Stop Oil. This highlights the issue of climate change caused by fossil fuels. One activist received a two-year prison sentence. The other will serve 20 months. In October 2022, the protestors threw tomato soup over Van Gogh's priceless painting. They then knelt beneath the iconic work of art and glued their hands to the wall. The soup did not harm the painting. However, it caused over $13,000 of damage to the frame.
The court judge called the Van Gogh painting a "cultural treasure". He said it could have been "seriously damaged or even destroyed". The judge told the activists: "You couldn't have cared less if the painting was damaged or not. You had no right to do what you did….You clearly think your beliefs give you the right to commit crimes when you feel like it." In their defence, the protestors said that before throwing the soup, they checked to see if the painting was protected by glass. Museum staff worried the soup could have dripped through the glass.
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