Pair in court accused of criminal damage to frame of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

The Metropolitan Police said 28 arrests were made in total in relation to protests in central London on Friday.

Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers was targeted on Friday (Just Stop Oil/PA)

Two women are due to appear in court in the UK charged with criminal damage to the frame of a famous Vincent Van Gogh painting at a London art gallery.

The UK Metropolitan Police said 28 arrests were made in total in relation to protests in central London on Friday.

Of those, 20-year-old Anna Holland, of Westgate Road in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Phoebe Plummer, 21, of Elms Road in Clapham, south London, face charges in relation to the painting.

The pair are due before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, the Met said.

Two tins of Heinz tomato soup were thrown over the Sunflowers painting by van Gogh at the National Gallery.

The sign outside New Scotland Yard in London was covered in yellow paint during protests on Friday (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Also due to appear at the same court is Lora Johnson, 38, of Keens Lane, Reydon, Southwold in Suffolk.

Johnson is charged with criminal damage to the main sign outside New Scotland Yard.

The well-known sign was covered with yellow paint and demonstrators also blocked the road in front of the Metropolitan Police’s headquarters during Just Stop Oil’s action on Friday.

The 25 other people have been bailed pending further inquiries, police said.

Friday marked the 14th day of “continuous disruption” by the environmental group, which has also seen protesters block several key roads in the capital.

Action is expected to last for more than a month.