Five people arrested after protesters stuck to paint in art gallery

Five people have been arrested after protesters stuck to the frame of a painting in a Scottish art gallery.

Members of the climate protest group Just Stop Oil are said to have become attached to a 19th century landscape by Horatio McCulloch called My Heart’s In The Highlands, which hangs in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.

They also reportedly sprayed the band’s logo on the famous gallery’s walls and floor in orange paint.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “At approximately 2.40pm on Wednesday June 29, officers were called to report a protest at the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow.

“Officers attended and spoke with those present.

“Three women aged 20, 26 and 27 have been arrested and charged, and a 31-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man have been arrested in connection with a number of offences. Police investigations are continuing.

“Police Scotland is a rights-based organization that places our values ​​of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to defending human rights at the heart of everything we do.

“This means we will protect the rights of people who want to demonstrate or counter-protest peacefully, taking into account the rights of the wider community.”

Just Stop Oil, which has previously staged protests at oil terminals and UK government offices in Edinburgh, said it was calling on arts institutions to join the group in “civil resistance” against climate change.

He shares a photo of the protest and a video of a woman wearing an orange t-shirt being transported to a police van outside the gallery on social media.

During the incident, the area around the painting was cordoned off by gallery staff before the museum closed completely.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow Life, the organization that runs the Kelvingrove, said: ‘On the advice of Police Scotland, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum closed early today, due to climate protesters at the interior of the museum.

“Glasgow Life museums security and conservation teams are currently working with police to determine the extent of the damage. We will update on the reopening as soon as possible. »