On Camera, German Activists Throw Mashed Potatoes At $110 Million Monet Painting

Two climate activists on Sunday threw mashed potatoes at a Monet painting worth $110 million in Germany in a protest against fossil fuel extraction. 

A video shared on Twitter showed the activists pair from the group Last Generation (Letzte Generation) approaching Monet's 'Les Meules' at the Barberini Museum and throwing the potato over the painting and its gold frame. The protesters, wearing orange high-vis vests, even glued themselves to the wall below the painting, before shouting, "Does it take mashed potato on a painting to make you listen? This painting is not going to be worth anything if we have to fight over food."

Watch the video below: 

We make this #Monet the stage and the public the audience.

If it takes a painting – with #MashedPotatoes or #TomatoSoup thrown at it – to make society remember that the fossil fuel course is killing us all:

Then we'll give you #MashedPotatoes on a painting! pic.twitter.com/HBeZL69QTZ

— Letzte Generation (@AufstandLastGen) October 23, 2022

According to SkyNews, four people were involved in the stunt. The Barberini Museum said that because the painting was enclosed in glass, the activists did not cause any damage. 

The museum director Ortrud Westheider stated that he was "shocked" by the stunt. "While I understand the activists' urgent concern in the face of the climate catastrophe, I am shocked by the means with which they are trying to lend weight to their demands," he said, as per the outlet. 

The Police did respond to the incident, however, they gave no further information about arrests and charges. 

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Meanwhile, this comes days after Just Stop Oil protesters sprayed orange paint on the Harrods showroom in central London. A video shared on social media showed two demonstrators spraying orange paint on the windows of the luxury department store. The activists also staged a sit-in protest on Knightsbridge with banners. According to Standard.co.uk, some activists even glued themselves to the road and locked themselves together.

The campaigners are calling for the UK government to halt all new oil and gas licenses and consent.