On this handout photograph, Simply Cease Oil protesters sit after spraying an orange substance on Stonehenge, in Salisbury, England, on Wednesday. (Simply Cease Oil by way of AP)
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Two local weather activists have been arrested at Stonehenge in England after spraying orange paint on the well-known historic landmark.
The group Simply Cease Oil took credit score for the Wednesday motion, which they stated was a name on the UK to cease using fossil fuels by 2030.
“Persevering with to burn coal, oil and fuel will consequence within the loss of life of hundreds of thousands. We now have to return collectively to defend humanity or we danger every little thing,” Simply Cease Oil stated in a press launch.
The group stated the orange cornflour used on the monument would wash away within the rain.
It recognized the 2 activists accountable as College of Oxford scholar Niamh Lynch, 21, and Birmingham resident Rajan Naidu, 73.
The Wiltshire Police confirmed that officers arrested two individuals on suspicion of damaging Stonehenge.
The motion passed off simply at some point earlier than the summer season solstice — the longest day of the yr — when 1000’s of individuals are anticipated to descend upon the historic monument.
English Heritage, the group that manages Stonehenge, stated in a publish on X that the location stays open. It known as the incident “extraordinarily upsetting” and stated its curators had been assessing the extent of any injury.
In its press launch, Simply Cease Oil stated it wouldn’t be sufficient for the UK to cease any future oil and fuel licenses, however moderately urged the federal government to signal a legally binding treaty barring it from extracting and burning oil, fuel and coal by the yr 2030.
UK political leaders had been fast to sentence the demonstration.
In a publish on X, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated: “Simply Cease Oil are a shame.”
Labour chief Keir Starmer, who’s operating in opposition to Sunak within the upcoming election, statedthe injury completed to Stonehenge was “outrageous.” Starmer known as Simply Cease Oil “pathetic” and stated these liable for the motion “should face the total pressure of the legislation.”
It’s the most recent public protest initiated by activists with Simply Cease Oil, whose members have additionally interrupted tennis matches at Wimbledon, disrupted the London satisfaction parade and defacedbasic artworks.
