Activists Sentenced for Soup Attack on Van Gogh

Two Just Stop Oil activists, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, were sentenced to prison for throwing tomato soup on Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' painting in October 2022. Plummer received a two-year sentence, while Holland got 20 months. Their actions, intended to protest fossil fuel use, caused $13,000 in damages to the painting's frame but left the artwork itself unharmed due to protective glass. Just hours after their sentencing, three other activists from the same group repeated the soup-throwing stunt on two Van Gogh paintings in the National Gallery, leading to their arrest. Just Stop Oil has been involved in numerous high-profile protests, targeting artworks, sporting events, and landmark sites like Stonehenge to push the British government to halt new oil and gas projects.