Art lovers have slammed "ridiculous" Just Stop Oil activists who threw soup over Van Gogh's iconic Sunflowers painting at London's National Gallery.

Fans queuing for the gallery's Lucian Freud: New Perspectives exhibition criticised eco campaigners Phoebe Plummer, 21, and 20-year-old Anna Holland for carrying out the "despicable" stunt at 11am on Friday (October 14).

The gallery, whose permanent collection belongs to the British public, remained open.
A steady steam of visitors could be seen entering the permanent collection while around 100 people queued for the exhibition.

Two police vans were seen near the gallery. while Just Stop Oil activists demonstrated in Trafalgar Square, where the gallery is found, carrying their trademark banners and Extinction Rebellion logos. However, they dispersed within an hour.

Retired grammar school teacher Moyra Zaman, 75, from Amersham, Bucks, who was waiting to visit the gallery, said: ''It is ridiculous. There are better ways to protest.

''It is not exactly as if Van Gogh is responsible for oil extraction.

''They are just looking back to things that happened many years ago and treating them as if they are happening now.

''Van Gogh wasn't part of all this; in those days oil was new to them.

''It is such a waste of a wonderful piece of art.

''Everybody knows the Sunflowers. It is such a sad thing.''

Her pal Yvonne Lincoln, 75, from Chester, added: ''Just because these paintings are ours it is foolish to start damaging them. Doing that is just ridiculous.''

Anna Holland, 20, from Newcastle, and Phoebe Plummer, 21, from Lambeth, south-west London, both pleaded not guilty to criminal damage to the frame of Van Gogh’s painting in a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday morning.

Appearing in the dock together, Holland and Plummer spoke only to confirm their name, date of birth, addresses and to enter pleas of not guilty to criminal damage to the value of less than £5,000.

A trial has been set for December 13 at City of London Magistrates' Court.

Holland and Plummer were granted bail on the condition that they not enter any gallery or museum and do not carry paint or adhesive in a public place.

It comes after Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion demonstrators descended on Westminster, central London, on Friday to protest against the Government’s approach to the environment.