Police in the United Kingdom arrested two climate activists from the group “Just Stop Oil” on Wednesday after they spray-painted a prehistoric megalithic monument.
The two activists identified as Oxford University student Niamh Lynch, 21, and Birmingham resident Rajan Naidu, 73, have claimed that orange corn flour used to paint Stonehedge will be washed away by rain. Al Jazeera reported.
Just Stop Oil defended its action, saying the law is a call for Britain's next government to stop using fossil fuels by 2030.
In a press release they said: “Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will result in the deaths of millions. We must unite to defend humanity, or we will risk everything.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak harshly criticized the activists and the organisation, calling it a “disgraceful act of vandalism”.
Similarly, Labor leader and Sunak's main opponent in the next election, Keir Starmer, branded the group “pathetic” and said the damage was “shocking”.
The incident occurred a day before the summer solstice, when thousands of people are expected to gather at the 4,500-year-old stone circle to celebrate the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.
English Heritage, the public body that manages the site, said its experts were investigating “the extent of the damage”.
