Two activists from climate change campaign group Just Stop Oil sprayed Charles Darwin's tomb in Westminister Abbey in protest at rising global temperatures © JAMIE LOWE / Just Stop Oil/AFP
By AFP - Agence France Presse
UK climate activists attack Darwin's tomb with chalk
London (AFP) - Climate activists attacked Charles Darwin's grave with chalk paint on Monday, in the latest controversial and disruptive action by protesters against the British government's environmental policies.
The Just Stop Oil (JSO) group said that two of its supporters' chalk painted “1.5 is dead” on the 19th-century biologist's tomb in Westminster Abbey in central London.
This comes after Europe's climate monitor announced last week that, over the last two years, average global temperatures have exceeded the critical warming limit of 1.5ºC for the first time.
London's Metropolitan Police said officers had arrested two women on suspicion of causing criminal damage “with what is believed to be powder paint in Westminster Abbey”.
“Police were called... following reports that the women had been detained by security,” said a spokesperson.
“They were taken to a police station in central London where they remain in custody.”
A spokesman for the church said it did not anticipate any permanent damage and its doors remained open to worshippers and visitors.
The JSO, formed in early 2022 to lobby the UK government over oil and gas exploration policy, named the two activists behind the coup.
He said Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant, and Di Bligh, 77, a former chief executive of a local government council, were involved.
“We're trying to get the government to act on climate change. They're not doing enough,” Lee told reporters as she was taken away by police.
The JSO has performed several such stunts, including iconic paintings such as Vincent van Gogh's “Sunflowers” with soup and the megalithic stones of Stonehenge with orange powder paint.
jj/jkb/bc
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