Protesters hold placards as they demonstrate outside of Southwark Crown Court, on the day of the sentencing of Anna Holland and Phoebe Plummer, who were both convicted of criminal damage for throwing tins of Heinz tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" painting in London's National Gallery in 2022, in London, Britain, September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
LONDON (Reuters) -Two climate activists from Just Stop Oil who threw soup at Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" painting in London's National Gallery were on Friday jailed for criminal damage.
Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, threw tins of Heinz tomato soup on the artwork in October 2022, before glueing themselves to the wall below the painting.
The soup caused up to 10,000 pounds ($13,385) worth of damage to the frame, prosecutors said, though the painting – which was behind a protective screen – was unharmed and went back on display later the same day.
The pair pleaded not guilty but were convicted after a trial at London's Southwark Crown Court, where Plummer was sentenced to two years in prison for the criminal damage charge. Holland was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Judge Christopher Hehir said Plummer and Holland "came within the width of a pane of glass of irreparably damaging or even destroying" the painting, which he said was "probably priceless in a literal sense".
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Sarah Young)
