Just Stop Oil protesters cover Stonehenge in orange paint ahead of summer solstice

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Climate protesters have doused Stonehenge in orange paint on the eve of the summer solstice.

Two Just Stop Oil activists began spraying rocks at the ancient site at around midday, just one day before thousands of visitors are expected to descend on the site to celebrate the longest day of the year.

The attack on Wednesday has been met with condemnation by the prime minister Rishi Sunak, who said the group should be “ashamed” of the “disgraceful act of vandalism”.

The group took action to draw attention to their demand that the next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.

Video footage of the protest shows two people in Just Stop Oil T-shirts, named by the group as Rajan Naidu, 73, and Niamh Lynch, 21, running towards the ancient structure with canisters of orange powder paint.

As they begin spraying the rocks, calls for them to stop can be heard from onlookers as other visitors chase after them attempting to take their canisters away.

Ms Lynch, a student from Oxford, said: “Stonehenge at solstice is all about celebrating the natural world – but look at the state it’s in! We all have a right to live a life free from suffering, but continued burning of oil, coal and gas is leading to death and suffering on an unparalleled scale.

“It’s time for us to think about what our civilisation will leave behind – what is our legacy? Standing inert for generations works well for stones – not climate policy,” she said in quotes provided by Just Stop Oil.

Both Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Sunak condemned the attack, with the prime minister calling it “a disgraceful act of vandalism to one of the UK’s and the world’s oldest and most important monuments”.

He added: “Just Stop Oil should be ashamed of their activists, and they and anyone associated with them, including a certain Labour Party donor, should issue a condemnation of this shameful act immediately.”

Labour leader Sir Keir said: “The damage done to Stonehenge is outrageous. Just Stop Oil are pathetic. Those responsible must face the full force of the law.”

Wiltshire Police said officers had attended the scene and arrested two people.

“Either we end the fossil fuel era, or the fossil fuel era will end us,” Mr Naidu said in quotes provided by Just Stop Oil.

“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. Sign the treaty!”

English Heritage said experts were assessing the “extent of the damage” to the stones, which they describe as perhaps the world’s most famous prehistoric monument.

A spokesperson said: “Orange powdered paint has been thrown at a number of the stones at Stonehenge. Obviously this is extremely upsetting, and our curators are investigating the extent of the damage. Stonehenge remains open to the public.”

Around 8,000 people gathered at Stonehenge to mark the longest day of the year in 2023, with similar numbers expected on Thursday.

It was built in several stages, with the first being an early henge monument erected about 5,000 years ago. The stone circle was erected in the late Neolithic period, around 2,500BC. Burial mounds were built nearby in the early Bronze Age.

Today’s action has come days after Labour’s manifesto recommitted the party to stopping all future licences for new oil and gas, should it form the next government.

The group praised the party for committing to their original demand of no new oil and gas, but added that this “is not enough”.

A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: “Failure to commit to defending our communities will mean Just Stop Oil supporters, along with citizens from Austria, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland, will join in resistance this summer, if their own governments do not take meaningful action.

“Stone circles can be found in every part of Europe, showing how we’ve always cooperated across vast distances – we’re building on that legacy.”