Two Just Stop Oil activists have been sentenced to jail for vandalizing Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers.

Phoebe Plummer, 23, and Anna Holland, 22, caused significant damage to the artwork's gold frame, estimated at £10,000, during an October 2022 protest at the National Gallery in London.

The activists, dressed in Just Stop Oil T-shirts, emptied tins of Heinz tomato soup over the painting and then kneeled in front of it.

After the incident, gallery staff inspected the artwork, fearing the soup might have seeped through the protective glass. The frame, acquired in 1999 and valued at £28,000, required extensive repairs.

Consequently, Plummer received a two-year prison sentence, and Holland was sentenced to 20 months.

Judge Christopher Hehir emphasized the severe risk posed to the "cultural treasure," pointing out that the damage could have had devastating consequences.

The judge criticized the activists, stating, "You couldn't have cared less if the painting was damaged or not. You had no right to do what you did to Sunflowers."

Plummer faced additional charges, including a three-month sentence related to her involvement in a slow march in west London, which took place in November 2023 and caused significant traffic disruptions.

Both women were found guilty of criminal damage in July after a brief three-hour jury deliberation. At the trial's conclusion, Judge Hehir remarked on the narrow escape the artwork had from being irrevocably damaged.

Van Gogh's Sunflowers, painted in Arles, France, in August 1888, depicts a vibrant arrangement of 15 sunflowers in a yellow vase against a yellow background. This priceless piece became the focus of multiple protest actions by Just Stop Oil activists in 2022.