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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Johannes Vermeer masterpiece “Girl with a Pearl Earring” on Thursday became the latest artwork targeted by climate activists in a protest at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague. The priceless work reportedly was not damaged.
A video posted on Twitter showed one man pouring a can of what appear to be tomatoes over another man who appeared to attempt to glue his head to the world famous painting.
Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that the Mauritshuis museum said the painting was not damaged.
One of the men, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Just Stop Oil,” shouts “How do you feel when you see something beautiful and priceless being apparently destroyed before your eyes? Do you feel outrage? Good. That is the feeling when you see the planet being destroyed before our very eyes.”
He goes on to say that the painting is protected by glass as one visitor to the museum shouts: “Shame on you!”
The museum did not immediately return calls and emails for comment Thursday. Police in The Hague said they had arrested three people for “public violence against property” but did not elaborate.
Earlier this month, climate protesters threw mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in a German museum and a similar protest happened in London, where protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in the National Gallery. In both those cases, the paintings were not harmed.