Two activists with Just Stop Oil were arrested on Tuesday at London’s Heathrow Airport after vandalizing passenger information screens and other airport fixtures with orange paint. The police confirmed the incident as part of a campaign by the group aiming to disrupt airports during the summer holidays in order to stop the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
One of the activists involved was Phoebe Plummer, who had been found guilty of causing criminal damage to Vincent van Gogh’s iconic ‘Sunflowers’ painting in a stunt last year and was currently on conditional bail with restrictions on carrying paint or adhesive substances in public places. The pair can be seen in footage shared by Just Stop Oil on X (formerly Twitter) spraying orange paint onto passenger information screens, glass panes, and floors of the airport using pressurized containers resembling fire extinguishers.
On their website, Just Stop Oil claims this act was part of a wider international ‘Oil Kills’ push by them and other activist groups to reduce the use of fossil fuels by the end of the decade. They state that 21 groups across 12 countries have taken action at 18 airports thus far. Media reports indicate that dozens of flights were canceled or diverted in airports across Europe due to similar activism, such as activists gluing themselves to landing strips.
In a related incident last week, ten Just Stop Oil activists were arrested outside Heathrow Airport and charged with “conspiring to interfere with key national infrastructure,” according to London’s Metropolitan Police on X. Eight of them were held in custody, while two were released on bail.
This latest stunt from Just Stop Oil follows another act of vandalism two weeks ago when two activists from the group defaced the UK’s prehistoric Stonehenge landmark using orange paint. Other notable actions by the group include throwing soup at priceless works of art and gluing themselves to paintings.