Activists with Just Stop Oil entered the National Gallery in London on 14 October 2022 and threw tomato soup at Van Gogh’s "Sunflowers" painting, glued themselves to the wall beneath it, and proclaimed that the crisis of fossil fuel extraction and climate breakdown matters more than preservation of art. Thanks to protective glass, the painting remained undamaged though its frame suffered minor damage. The protest was timed with the UK government’s new oil and gas licensing round and provoked worldwide attention and discussion about the ethics and effectiveness of targeting cultural icons.