Just Stop Oil activists have sprayed Stonehenge orange on the eve of the summer solstice. Sightseers screamed 'no' and ran to block the campaigners, named by the group as Rajan Naidu, 73, and Niamh Lynch, 21, as they approached the stone circle on Wednesday.
Video footage posted on social media showed two people wearing white shirts with the slogan Just Stop Oil, approaching the monoliths with canisters spraying orange paint. The stunt was widely condemned on social media, with 'Stonehenge' and 'arseholes' simultaneously trending in the hours afterwards.
Even Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer were united in their denunciation. The Prime Minister described it as a 'disgraceful act of vandalism' while the Labour leader branded the group 'pathetic'.
Several of the iconic stones – dating back to the late Neolithic period – were seen covered before one protester sat on the grass and another was detained by a day tripper. Two people were later arrested.
A spokeswoman for English Heritage described the incident as 'extremely upsetting'. She said: 'Orange powdered paint has been thrown at a number of the stones at Stonehenge. Obviously, this is extremely upsetting and our curators are investigating the extent of the damage.'
In a statement, Just Stop Oil said its action was to demand that the incoming UK Government should agree a plan with other governments to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030. The group said it used orange cornflour paint to spray onto the stones, which it claimed would 'soon wash away with the rain'.
Ms Lynch, said to be a student from Oxford, said the continued burning of oil, coal and gas was leading to 'death and suffering'. Rajan Naidu, 73, from Birmingham, added: 'Either we end the fossil fuel era, or the fossil fuel era will end us.'
