Just Stop Oil campaigners attack Stonehenge as West Midlands man among those involved

A West Midlands man has been confirmed to be among a group of protesters who attacked Stonehenge. The famous monument was splashed with orange paint hours before the summer solstice, which attracts thousands of people.

Campaign group Just Stop Oil claimed the action and said they are calling on the next UK government to agree a plan to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer both condemned the attack. The Prime Minister described it as a “disgraceful act of vandalism”, while the Labor leader branded the group “pathetic”.

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Members of the public tried to intervene, tackling the militants – named by the group as Rajan Naidu, 73, from Birmingham, and Niamh Lynch, 21, a student from Oxford – as they ran on Wednesday at the ancient monument.

Video footage posted on social media showed two people wearing white shirts with the slogan Just Stop Oil approaching the stone circle with containers and spraying orange powder paint.

Mr Naidu said: “Either we end the fossil fuel era or the fossil fuel era ends us.

“Just as 50 years ago, when the world used international treaties to defuse threats posed by nuclear weapons, today the world needs a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out fossil fuels and support dependent economies, workers and communities to leave. from oil, gas and coal.”

English Heritage said experts were assessing the “extent of damage” to the stones.

A spokeswoman said: “Orange powder paint has been thrown onto several stones at Stonehenge.

“Obviously this is extremely upsetting and our curators are investigating the extent of the damage. Stonehenge remains open to the public.”

The spokesman added that the solstice celebrations would continue. Around 8,000 people are expected to gather at Stonehenge to mark the longest day of the year from 7pm tonight.

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

A spokesman for the force said: “Around midday we responded to a report that orange paint had been sprayed on some of the stones by two suspects.

“The officers intervened on the spot and arrested two people, suspected of having damaged the ancient monument.

“Our inquiries are ongoing and we are working closely with English Heritage.”

A Just Stop Oil spokesman said: “The UK government-in-waiting has committed to implementing Just Stop Oil’s original demand for ‘no new oil and gas’. However, we all know that this is not enough.

“Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will kill millions of people. We must unite to defend humanity or risk everything.

“That’s why Just Stop Oil is calling for our next government to sign a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.”

The group said it used orange paint made from cornmeal to spray the stones, which it claimed would “soon be washed away by the rain”.

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