An image grab from a video released by the Just Stop Oil climate campaign group shows activists spraying an orange substance at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, southwest England, on June 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

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.

London:

UK police arrested two people on Wednesday after environmental activists sprayed an orange substance on Stonehenge, the renowned prehistoric UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwest England.

Just stop oil protestors damage Stonehenge
pic.twitter.com/HSQvfWIdNh

— Stonehenge U.K (@ST0NEHENGE) June 19, 2024

The Just Stop Oil protest group said a pair of its activists had “decorated Stonehenge in orange powder paint” to demand that the UK’s next government legally commit to phasing out fossil fuels by 2030.

Footage posted on social media showed the activists, wearing “Just Stop Oil” branded T-shirts, spraying at least two of the megalithic monuments with the orange substance from a small canister.

The group said on social media they had used “orange cornflour” and claimed it “will soon wash away with the rain”.

Wiltshire Police said in a statement it had “arrested two people following an incident at Stonehenge this afternoon”. 

“Officers attended the scene and arrested two people on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument.

“Our inquiries are ongoing and we are working closely with English Heritage,” the police added, referring to the public body that cares for hundreds of the country’s historic places, including Stonehenge.

The incident comes in the middle of the UK’s general election campaign, ahead of voters going to the polls on July 4.

– ‘Disgraceful’ –

It drew immediate condemnation from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who called it “a disgraceful act of vandalism to one of the UK’s and the world’s oldest and most important monuments”.

“Just Stop Oil should be ashamed of their activists,” he added.

Just Stop Oil said it had chosen to stage the action on the day before the Summer Solstice festival, when crowds gather at the site to celebrate the northern hemisphere’s summer solstice.

A spokesperson for the group said that although the Labour party, which is widely expected to win next month’s election, has vowed not to issue any new oil and gas drilling licences, “we all know this is not enough”.

“We have to come together to defend humanity or we risk everything. That’s why Just Stop Oil is demanding that our next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030,” the spokesperson added.

“Failure to commit to defending our communities will mean Just Stop Oil supporters… will join in resistance this summer, if their own governments do not take meaningful action. 

“Stone circles can be found in every part of Europe, showing how we’ve always cooperated across vast distances — we’re building on that legacy.” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)