On June 19, 2024, a popular tourist attraction in England got an unwanted makeover. Two climate change protestors defaced Stonehenge, located on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, to make a point about fossil fuels. The organization Just Stop Oil has taken responsibility and identified the culprits as Niamh Lynch, 21, and Rajan Naidu, 73.
Lynch and Naidu used orange powder paint that will eventually wash off. They were arrested at the scene and later released on bail. They made statements explaining their actions on the organizations website.
According to the Just Stop Oil website the point of the criminal action was to insist “that the incoming UK government commit to working with other governments to agree an equitable plan to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.” Their actions may not have the desired impact.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is less than pleased with their course of action. “This is a disgraceful act of vandalism to one of the UK’s and the world’s oldest and most important monuments,” he stated to The Guardian.
Lynch wanted to wake people up with his actions. “Stonehenge at solstice is all about celebrating the natural world — but look at the state it’s in! We all have a right to live a life free from suffering, but continued burning of oil, coal and gas is leading to death and suffering on an unparalleled scale,” he explained.
In a video clip film before Stonehenge was defaced he asked: “These stones have stood here for 5,000 years. What will the world look like in 5,000 years’ time?”
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Naidu also shared his thoughts. “Either we end the fossil fuel era, or the fossil fuel era will end us,” he warned. “Just as fifty years ago, when the world used international treaties to defuse the threats posed by nuclear weapons, today the world needs a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out fossil fuels and to support dependent economies, workers and communities to move away from oil, gas and coal.”
