Climate activists arrested for spraying Stonehenge with orange paint

Two people have been arrested for using orange powder paint to deface Stonehenge in England.

Activist group Just Stop OilIts organization focuses on climate change, shared scenes to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Wednesday, June 19, in a coordinated effort at the site of a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.

“We have arrested two people following an incident at Stonehenge this afternoon,” Wiltshire Police said. In a statement.

“In the afternoon, we responded to a report of two suspects spraying orange paint on some stones. Officials rushed to the spot and arrested two people on suspicion of vandalizing the ancient symbol. Our investigations are continuing,” he said.

People have contacted Wiltshire Police for further comment.

Just Stop Oil confirmed the identities of the suspects on their organisation’s official website as Niamh Lynch, a 21-year-old student from Oxford, and Rajan Naidu, 73, from Birmingham.

Their aim was to demand that the incoming UK government “commit to working with other governments to agree an equitable plan to phase out the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030”.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has condemned their action.

“This is a desecration of one of the UK’s and the world’s oldest and most important monuments,” he said. Guardian.

The BBC A spokesman for English Heritage called Wednesday’s incident “deeply saddening” but confirmed the site was open to the public.

Just Stop Oil planned to hold the demonstration ahead of the summer solstice, when crowds descend on Stonehenge to mark the longest day of the year.

“Stonehenge on Solstice is a celebration of the natural world – but look at the state it is in! We all have the right to live a life free of suffering, but the continued burning of oil, coal and gas leads to unprecedented levels of death and suffering,” Lynch said in a statement to the organization.

The student echoed the same sentiments A video The picture was taken before the incident and shared on X after the arrest.

“These stones have stood here for 5,000 years. What will the world be like in 5,000 years?” Lynch asked in the clip.

Naidu also shared a statement.

“Either we end the fossil fuel era, or the fossil fuel era will end us. Just as fifty years ago, the world used international treaties to mitigate threats posed by nuclear weapons, today the world needs a treaty to ban the proliferation of fossil fuels. Oil, gas and coal.”

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Naidu added, “The orange maize flour we used to create the spectacle will soon be washed away by the rains,” while urging the government to “sign the agreement”.