Just Stop Oil eco-idiots attack priceless artwork with hammers before others target Cenotaph sparking fury
JUST Stop Oil eco-loons used hammers to attack a priceless artwork yesterday — before others targeted The Cenotaph.
The duo smashed the glass covering of Diego Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus at the National Gallery in central London.
![Handout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of two Just Stop Oil protesters smashing a painting at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Picture date: Monday November 6, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story POLICE Oil. Photo credit should read: Just Stop Oil/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/POLICE-Oil-11465482jpg-JS857685388.jpg?strip=all&w=953)
![Just Stop Oil.@JustStop_Oil. SUFFRAGETTE PAINTING SMASHED.. Our government have revealed plans for MORE oil licences, knowing it will kill millions. In response, two supporters of Just Stop Oil smashed the Rokeby Venus slashed by Mary Richardson in 1914...¿ Deeds, not words: http://juststopoil.org/zoom](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Ross_Grab00004jpg-JS857685832.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
![2PNKC9A Safety hammer in vehicles use in the event of an accident. Windshield hammer isolated on white background.](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2PNKC9Ajpg-JS857709718.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
Conservators took down the 17th century masterpiece to inspect it for any damage.
Students Hanan Ameur, 22, and Harrison Donnelly, 20, were arrested.
It was previously slashed with a butcher’s knife by Suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914.
Today JSO issued a statement linking its campaign to the Suffragettes’ struggle for votes.
Tonight The National Gallery said the JSO pair, previously charged over the group’s stunts, used what “appeared to be emergency rescue hammers”.
Just as they were being nicked, another three JSO eco-zealots were spotted lying down near the monument to the nation’s fallen heroes.
Photos of the hi-vis jacketed protesters — so close to Remembrance Sunday — sparked outraged online.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper blasted: “Targeting The Cenotaph’s totally unacceptable.”
One of the three, a mum of one, claimed she was taken there by police after being arrested on her way to join 60 other JSO activists in a lying down protest at the nearby Cabinet Office.
Onlookers criticised the group for staging a protest so near The Cenotaph.
Hilary Vinas, 64, on holiday from San Antonio, Texas, said: “It’s disrespectful to see them stage a protest this close to the memorial this weekend.
“And don’t they realise nothing would work without oil?”
Photographer Louis McLaren, 21, from Kent, added: “It’s ridiculous to see so many police here for this.
“They are being prevented from doing their jobs.”
JSO said: “We have not targeted The Cenotaph.
“The police moved people there when they were being arrested.”
The Met said the arrests were for public order offences, but did not link them to The Cenotaph.
![Mandatory Credit: Photo by Guy Bell/Shutterstock (14186633a) Just Stop Oil continue their climate protest with an action in Whitehall. They demand that, in order to stop climate change, no new licences should be granted for fossil fuel extraction. Just stop oil protest Whitehall., Whitehall, London, UK - 06 Nov 2023](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/e9e78b13-1b97-46c1-8585-670da7fa0dcf.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
![Copyright Peter Jordan Commissioned by The Sun....Story by Daniel Hammond ...Just Stop Oil protesters arrested in Whitehall London....Picture shows a protester being arrested outside the Cenotaph in Whitehall...Date: Today Monday 6th November 2023](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/PJN_Just_StopOil_5jpg-JS857691893.jpg?strip=all&w=666)
![Woman attacking the painting The Rokeby Venus by Diego Velazquez. (Photo by Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis via Getty Images)](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GettyImages-526100236jpg-JS779429231.jpg?strip=all&w=690)