Stonehenge covered in paint by Just Stop Oil protesters

Part of Stonehenge was covered in orange powder paint by protesters.

Two Just Stop Oil campaigners spray-painted the historic site near Salisbury, Wiltshire, at around 12pm BST on Wednesday.

The move comes a day before the start of the holidays for the summer solstice at the 5,000-year-old landmark.

Wiltshire Police have confirmed that two people have been arrested on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the incident as “a shameful act of vandalism”.

Just Stop Oil named the two protesters Niamh Lynch, a 21-year-old student from Oxford, and Rajan Naidu, a 73-year-old man from Birmingham, in a statement.

The group said the orange powder was cornmeal and would “wash away with rain.”

Members of the public were heard shouting “no” and seen running to intervene as campaigners ran towards the stone circle at the Unesco world heritage site.

A spokeswoman for English Heritage described the spattering of the monument as “extremely distressing” and confirmed the site remains open to the public.

She added that curators were “investigating the extent of the damage”.

Just Stop Oil said the motivation behind the incident was to call on the next UK government to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.

A spokesman for the group said: “Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will kill millions of people. We must unite to defend humanity or risk everything.”

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “We responded to a report that orange paint had been sprayed on some of the stones by two suspects.

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