- Wiltshire Police said the man has now been released on bail
A third person has been arrested after Stonehenge was sprayed with orange paint earlier this month.
A man in his 30s from Essex was arrested by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday on suspicion of aiding and abetting criminal damage, aiding and abetting unauthorised entry and damage to an ancient monument, and aiding and abetting aggravated trespass, according to Wiltshire Police.
He has now been released on police bail.
Two protestors, Niamh Lynch, 21, a student from Oxford, and Rajan Naidu, 73, from Birmingham, had been previously arrested in connection with the incident. They remain on bail.
Earlier this month, video footage posted on social media showed two people, wearing white shirts with Just Stop Oil emblazoned on the front, running up to the ancient monoliths with canisters and spraying paint all over them.
Just Stop Oil protesters sprayed Stonehenge with orange paint earlier this month. Two people were arrested at the scene. Today, a man in his 30’s from Essex has been arrested in connection to the activist group’s latest stunt
Image shows orange substance on Stonehenge, sprayed by Just Stop Oil protesters earlier this month
Several stones – dating back to the late Neolithic period – were covered during the incident, which happened at around midday on June 19, the day before the summer solstice is celebrated at Stonehenge, which is the heart of a World Heritage site.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the attack as a ‘disgraceful act of vandalism to one of the UK’s and the world’s oldest and most important monuments.’
The Prime Minister continued: ‘Just Stop Oil should be ashamed of their activists, and they and anyone associated with them, including a certain Labour Party donor, should issue a condemnation of this shameful act immediately.’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said ‘Just Stop Oil are pathetic’ after activists from the group targeted Stonehenge.
In a tweet, he wrote: ‘The damage done to Stonehenge is outrageous. Just Stop oil are pathetic. Those responsible must face the full force of the law.’
Several stones were covered in the substance before the protesters stopped and sat cross legged on the grass
Historian Tom Holland, who has previously hailed Stonehenge as one of Europe’s most precious prehistoric sites, also criticised the attack.
He wrote on X: ‘Parade your concern for the planet by destroying endangered lichens. Sympathy transmuted into utter loathing.’
Furious visitors told how they were left ‘devastated’ after witnessing two Just Stop Oil protesting at Stonehenge by covering its sarsen stones in bright powder paint.
One couple travelled 5,000 miles from the west coast of the USA to see Stonehenge and said it has ‘ruined’ it for visitors.
Another couple from Newcastle, 325 miles away from Wiltshire, likened the incident to the Sycamore Gap tree felling.
One heroic woman, who works at Stonehenge, wrestled with the Just Stop Oil protesters.
A druid was also seen ‘cursing’ the ‘two idiots’ who staged the protest.
Nestled in the Wiltshire countryside near Salisbury, Stonehenge is one of the top tourist attractions in the UK thanks to its mysterious beauty.
The historical landmark dates back 5,000 years, with the famous circle of sarsen stones being placed between 2600 BC and 2400 BC.
Police have been clamping down on Just Stop Oil.
The Metropolitan Police yesterday said 27 Just Stop Oil activists were taken into custody following a series of raids relating to a plot to cause a ‘summer of chaos at airports across the UK’.
All the arrests were made under a section of the Public Order Act that makes it illegal to conspire to disrupt national infrastructure.