Rome prosecutors have opened a probe into last week’s Van Gogh soup attack by climate activists in Rome, judicial sources said Monday.
Three members of the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) group threw vegetable soup on the Dutch master’s work ‘The Sower’ in Palazzo Bonaparte on Friday, but the painting was not damaged since it is behind glass, like other recent international art targets of climate activism.
Carabinieri said the three young women may face charges of “damaging, despoiling, vandalizing, and the illicit use of cultural goods.”
They said the possible charges carried prison terms of up to five years.
A member of Ultima Generazione named Michele has said:
“We’re not bothered by the investigation and we’re going ahead because we want to highlight the responsibilities of the real criminals.
“The government is starting to fight us because it knows it is criminal and it is hiding its head in the sand.
“The Italian State is the sixth biggest investor of public money in fossil fuels as well as Saudi Arabia and Russia.
“It is not accident that (UN chief Antonio) Guterres has just said that ‘humanity must make a choice: collaborate or die.’ These are Guterres’ words, against a criminal government.”
