Two Just Stop Oil activists have been found guilty of criminal damage after throwing soup over Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting.

Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both aged 22, threw a can of Heinz tomato soup over the masterpiece at the National Gallery in London in October 2022.

At the time the gallery said there was “minor damage” to the frame of the famous artwork, which has an estimated value of £72.5m.

A video of the demonstration showed the two women wearing Just Stop Oil T-shirts glueing one hand each to the wall below the painting, which is protected by a pane of glass.

Plummer, from Clapham, and Holland, of Newcastle, were found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

Both had denied the charge.

Judge Christopher Hehir – who last week jailed Just Stop Oil co-founder Roger Hallam for five years at the same court – told the pair they will be released on bail until they are sentenced on 27 September.

The stunt was carried out as the group tried to stop the government from issuing all new oil and gas licences.

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The work by Van Gogh was the second to be targeted in the National Gallery after two activists glued themselves to John Constable’s The Hay Wain in July of the same year.

After throwing the soup, Plummer was heard saying: “What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice?”

As part of their bail conditions, the two women cannot carry glue, paint or any adhesive substance in a public place or visit any galleries or museums.

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