A video launched by the group confirmed two activists operating towards the prehistoric stones of the UNESCO World Heritage Site with what regarded like hearth extinguishers after which spraying them with what the group stated was “orange paint powder.”
Just Stop Oil stated the activists had “adorned” the stones to name consideration to the British authorities’s “failure to decide to defending our communities.”
Bystanders intervened to attempt to cease the activists, and the Wiltshire Police later said two individuals had been arrested, “on suspicion of damaging the traditional monument.”
“Just Stop Oil supporters, together with residents from Austria, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland will take part resistance this summer season, if their very own Governments don’t take significant motion,” a spokesperson for the group stated in an announcement.
The group that manages the Stonehenge website, English Heritage, advised CBS News the incident was “extraordinarily upsetting and our curators are investigating the extent of the harm,” however that the monument remained open to the general public.
The protest got here in the future earlier than the summer season solstice, the longest day of the 12 months, when crowds historically collect at Stonehenge to rejoice and watch the rising solar seem via the traditional stones.
“Stonehenge at solstice is all about celebrating the pure world – however take a look at the state it is in! We all have a proper to reside a life free from struggling, however continued burning of oil, coal and gasoline is resulting in dying and struggling on an unparalleled scale,” Just Stop Oil stated. “It’s time for us to consider what our civilization will depart behind – what’s our legacy? Standing inert for generations works properly for stones – not local weather coverage.”
The group has staged a sequence of protests during the last 12 months, spraying well-known artworks with the same orange substance and even blocking site visitors on the key M-25 freeway that circles London.
