2 climate activists were arrested after spraying orange paint on Stonehenge : NPR

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 mentioned was a name on the UK to cease using fossil fuels by 2030.

“Persevering with to burn coal, oil and gasoline will consequence within the demise of hundreds of thousands. We’ve got to come back collectively to defend humanity or we threat every little thing,” Simply Cease Oil mentioned in a press launch.

The group mentioned the orange cornflour used on the monument would wash away within the rain.

It recognized the 2 activists accountable as College of Oxford pupil Niamh Lynch, 21, and Birmingham resident Rajan Naidu, 73.

The Wiltshire Police confirmed that officers arrested two folks on suspicion of damaging Stonehenge.

The motion happened simply at some point earlier than the summer season solstice — the longest day of the 12 months — when hundreds of individuals are anticipated to descend upon the historic monument.

English Heritage, the group that manages Stonehenge, mentioned in a publish on X that the positioning stays open. It referred to as the incident “extraordinarily upsetting” and mentioned its curators had been assessing the extent of any injury.

In its press launch, Simply Cease Oil mentioned it wouldn’t be sufficient for the UK to cease any future oil and gasoline licenses, however moderately urged the federal government to signal a legally binding treaty barring it from extracting and burning oil, gasoline and coal by the 12 months 2030.

UK political leaders had been fast to sentence the demonstration.

In a publish on X, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned: “Simply Cease Oil are a shame.”

Labour chief Keir Starmer, who’s operating in opposition to Sunak within the upcoming election, saidthe injury accomplished to Stonehenge was “outrageous.” Starmer referred to as Simply Cease Oil “pathetic” and mentioned these answerable for the motion “should face the complete power of the legislation.”

It’s the newest public protest initiated by activists with Simply Cease Oil, whose members have additionally interrupted tennis matches at Wimbledon, disrupted the London satisfaction parade and defacedclassic artworks.