- Protesters threw tomato soup over a Van Gogh painting worth millions on Friday.
- The UK's National Gallery, where the painting is housed, said the painting was unharmed.
Two supporters of an anti-oil protest group threw a can of tomato soup over one of the world's most valuable paintings in a protest in London on Friday.
The activists, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, then appeared to glue themselves to the wall of the UK's National Gallery next to the soup-splattered "Sunflowers" by Vincent Van Gogh.
The pair wore t-shirts saying "Just Stop Oil," the name of a group that advocates for no new fossil fuel extraction in the UK.
Guardian reporter Damien Gayle recorded the soup-dumping and the speech after in videos posted to Twitter. His footage captures gasps as the soup was dropped on the painting.
Representatives for the National Gallery told Insider the painting was under glass and was undamaged, with only minor harm to its frame.
"What is worth more - art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?" asked Plummer after the incident.
"The cost-of-living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis. Fuel is unaffordable for millions of cold, hungry families that can't even afford to heat a tin of soup."
According to Just Stop Oil's website, the action was planned as a counter a swathe of new licenses for oil and gas extraction in the UK.
The government has argued that the licenses would eventually increase supply and reduce energy costs, albeit by introducing more fossil fuels into the market.
London's Metropolitan Police said it arrested two people on suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespass.
"Specialist officers have now un-glued them and they have been taken into custody," the police statement said.
The National Gallery is one of the UK's most prestigious art institutions.
Van Gogh painted several paintings with sunflowers in his lifetime; this one is estimated to be worth $84.2 million, the group said.