British climate activists sentenced for throwing tomato soup over Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'

LONDON (AP) — Two British climate activists were sentenced on Friday for throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” two years ago, nearly destroying one of the great masterpieces at London's National Gallery.

Phoebe Plummer, 23, received a two-year sentence while Anna Holland, 22, was sent to prison for 20 months. In October 2022, the pair threw two tins of tomato soup over the painting before kneeling down in front of it and gluing their hands to the wall beneath it. They were found guilty of criminal damage by a jury in July.

During the attack, both women wore T-shirts supporting Just Stop Oil, an environmental group pushing the British government to halt new oil and gas projects.

Over the past few years, the group has been behind a series of high-profile stunts, including at major sporting events and on Britain's transport networks. The attack on “Sunflowers” was the second artwork at the National Gallery targeted in 2022, after two Just Stop Oil activists glued themselves to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain.”

Van Gogh's 1888 masterpiece, painted in Arles in the south of France , was not damaged in the 2022 attack as it was covered by protective glass.

However, the gold-colored frame suffered 10,000 pounds ($13,000) worth of damage. Museum staff had worried that the soup could have dripped through and caused immeasurable damage to the painting.

In sentencing the two activists Friday, Judge Christopher Hehir said the artwork could have been “seriously damaged or even destroyed."

Hehir was also the judge in the case against Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, another environmental campaigning group, and had sentenced him to five years.

On Friday, he took aim at Plummer.

“You clearly think your beliefs give you the right to commit crimes when you feel like it," he said. "You do not.”

Plummer, who represented herself and who had pleaded guilty, told the hearing that she would accept “with a smile” whatever verdict came her way.

“It is not just myself being sentenced today, or my co-defendants, but the foundations of democracy itself," she said.

Five days after her guilty verdict in July, Plummer was arrested for spraying paint on departure boards at Heathrow Airport.

Lawyer Raj Chada, defending Holland, said the two women checked that the “Sunflowers” was protected by a glass cover before throwing the soup.

A number of Just Stop Oil supporters gathered outside the court, some holding posters of historical figures jailed for activism.