The UK Metropolitan Police detained two Just Stop Oil environmental activists who used hammers to break the glass of Diego Velazquez’s Venus with a Mirror in London’s National Gallery.
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“Two Just Stop Oil activists were detained for damaging property. The glass protecting a painting in the National Gallery was vandalized,” London police said in a post on social media X.
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According to the Daily Mail, environmental activists broke the protective glass on Dioego Velazquez’s painting “Venus with a Mirror”. It is noted that the protesters used emergency hammers.
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According to gallery employees, the painting was removed from the exhibition for further inspection by restorers. The environmental activists themselves said that their new action was a response to the British government’s plans to increase the number of permits for oil production.
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In 2022, Just Stop Oil activists glued themselves to paintings in galleries, threw paint on the buildings of various organizations, and organized various protests and demonstrations that led to traffic disruptions in central London . In 2023, environmental activists continued their protests. In April, they even disrupted the first round matches of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield by staining the table with orange powder paint. After this, they continued to interrupt various sporting events, and also repeatedly threw orange paint on university buildings across the country.
