Activists Louis McKechnie and Emily Brocklebank glued themselves to Peach Trees In Blossom.
Image source, Getty ImagesTwo Just Stop Oil protesters have been found guilty of causing criminal damage to a Vincent Van Gogh painting’s frame after gluing themselves to it.
Louis McKechnie, 22, and Emily Brocklebank, 23, caused about £2,000 of damage to the frame of Peach Trees In Blossom at London’s Courtauld Gallery.
McKechnie, from Weymouth, was jailed for three weeks while Brocklebank received a suspended sentence.
She had said: “I didn’t think I would cause much damage. Glue comes off.”
There have been several similar protests by climate activists in recent weeks.
Image source, PA Media
District Judge Neeta Minhas said the damage caused at the Courtauld Gallery was “substantial”.
Giving her verdict at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, she said: “An 18th Century frame which is hundreds of years old has been permanently damaged.
“It is not in a state where it can return to its original state.”
She added that the painting had “significant, historical and art value” and that the damage was “not minor, insignificant, temporary or trivial”.
Brocklebank, from Yeadon in Leeds, received a 21-day sentence, suspended for six months, and was made the subject of an electronically monitored six-week curfew.
Xavier Gonzales-Trimmer, 21, originally faced the same charge after being accused of “distracting the guards”, but this was dropped. However, he was fined for failing to appear at court for an earlier hearing.
Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk