Three protestors have been charged with “damaging an ancient protected monument” after Stonehenge was sprayed with orange paint in June of this year. The prehistoric structure in Wiltshire, UK, was targeted by Just Stop Oil environmental activists, who daubed some of the stones with paint which was later removed.
According to a Wiltshire police statement dated 18 November, Luke Watson, 35, of Manuden, Bishop’s Stortford, has been “charged with one count of aiding, abetting, counselling and/or procuring destroying or damaging an ancient protected monument”.
Two other protestors—Rajan Naidu, 73, of Birmingham, and Niamh Lynch, 22, of Bedford—were charged on 14 November with “destroying or damaging an ancient protected monument, and intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance”. All three protestors will appear at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on 13 December.
Following the protest, Naidu said: “The orange cornflour we used to create an eye-catching spectacle will soon wash away with the rain, but the urgent need for effective government action to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of the climate and ecological crisis will not.”
The English Heritage chief executive, Nick Merriman, told BBC Radio 4 after the attack that there appeared to be “no visible damage” to the 5,000-year-old landmark. But on 19 June the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, then leader of the opposition, posted on X that “the damage done to Stonehenge is outrageous. Just Stop Oil are pathetic. Those responsible must face the full force of the law.”
Two Just Stop Oil activists who glued themselves to a J.M.W. Turner painting at Manchester Art Gallery in July 2022 were acquitted last month in a Manchester court. In contrast, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland received sentences of 24 months and 20 months at Southwark Crown Court in September for throwing cans of soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at London’s National Gallery in 2022.
