Five people have been arrested after protesters glued themselves to the frame of a painting in a Scottish art gallery.
Members of the Just Stop Oil climate protest group allegedly attached themselves 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 are also alleged to have sprayed the group’s logo on the walls and floor of the renowned gallery in orange paint.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said “Around 2.40pm on Wednesday, June 29, officers were called to a report of a protest at Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow.
“Officers attended and engaged with those present.
“Three woman aged 20, 26 and 27 years have been arrested and charged, and one women aged 31 years along with a 24-year-old man have been arrested in connection with a number of offences. Police inquiries are continuing.
“Police Scotland is a rights-based organisation that puts our values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to upholding human rights at the heart of everything we do.
“This means that we will protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest, balanced against the rights of the wider community.”
Just Stop Oil, which has previously carried out protests at oil terminals and the UK Government offices in Edinburgh, said it is calling for art institutions to join the group in “civil resistance” against climate change.
Glasgow Life museums’ security and conservation teams are currently working with the police to ascertain the extent of any damage— Glasgow Life spokeswoman
It share a picture of the protest and a video of a woman in an orange T-shirt being wheeled 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 was closed entirely.
A spokeswoman for Glasgow Life, the organisation which runs the Kelvingrove, said: “On Police Scotland advice, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum has closed early today, due to climate protesters inside the museum.
“Glasgow Life museums’ security and conservation teams are currently working with the police to ascertain the extent of any damage. We will update on reopening as soon as possible.”
