Two Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested after throwing tinned soup at one of Vincent Van Gogh’s most famous paintings to protest against fossil fuels.

The protestors - named as Anna Holland, 20, from Newcastle and 21-year-old Phoebe Plummer - threw a tin of Heinz tomato soup over the iconic £76 million painting on Friday (Octiber 14) morning.

They then kneeled down in front of the painting and reportedly glued their hands to the wall beneath it.

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One of the protestors, named as Anna Holland from Newcastle, said: "UK families will be forced to choose between heating and eating this winter, as fossil fuel companies reap record profits.

"But the cost of oil and gas isn't limited to our bills. Somalia is now facing an apocolyptic famine, caused by drought and fuelled by the climate crisis. Millions are being forced to move and tens of thousands face starvation.

"This is the future we choose for ourselves if we push for new oil and gas."

Tomato soup covered the image, which is covered by glass, as well as parts of the golden frame.

The Northern Echo: Picture: PAPicture: PA (Image: PA)

Visitors were then shortly escorted out by security, who then shut the doors to room 43 of the gallery where the painting hangs.

The protesters were later seen being put into a police van at the back entrance of the gallery.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Officers were rapidly on scene at the National Gallery this morning after two Just Stop Oil protesters threw a substance over a painting and then glued themselves to a wall. Both have been arrested for criminal damage and aggravated trespass

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“Specialist officers have now un-glued them and they have been taken into custody to a central London police station.”

Sunflowers is the second, more famous, Van Gogh painting to be targeted by the group, with two climate activists glueing themselves to his 1889 Peach Trees in Blossom, exhibited at the Courtauld Gallery, at the end of June.

Painted in Arles in the south of France in August 1888, Van Gogh’s painting shows fifteen sunflowers standing in a yellow pot against a yellow background.

The work is also the second from the National Gallery to be selected as a target for protest action by Just Stop Oil, with two supporters glueing themselves to John Constable’s The Hay Wain on July 4.

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