Three women were arrested after climate activists attacked Edvard Munch’s world-famous masterpiece, The Scream, at a museum in Oslo on Friday, police said.
Two people allegedly tried to stick to the 1893 painting while a third was seen filming, according to Norway’s NTB news agency.
Footage showed museum guards holding two protesters as one yelled “I scream for people dying” and the second yelled “I scream when lawmakers ignore science.”
Another person was seen trying to protect the painting as the incident unfolded at the National Museum of Norway.
Glue residue remained on the glass mount, but no paint damage was reported.
Oslo police tweeted on Friday: “We are at the National Museum following a message from the guards there.
“They had taken control of three people, two of whom had tried to stick to a painting.
“They were unsuccessful on this, but there is glue residue on the glass mount. No reports of paint damage.”
The force later tweeted that three women, who are citizens of Finland, Denmark and Germany, had been arrested, adding: “We are working to clarify their connection to Norway.”
Police at the National Museum in Oslo Photo: AP
Police also said they were in contact with a woman who witnessed the incident.
The room where the painting was displayed was “emptied of the public and closed”, the museum said, adding that it will reopen as soon as possible.
The rest of the enclosure remained open.
The activists are said to belong to the Norwegian organization Stopp Oljeletinga, which translates as Stop Oil Exploration.
They want to pressure politicians in Norway, a major producer of offshore oil and gas, to stop oil exploration.
Astrid Rem, a spokeswoman for the group, said: “We are campaigning against Scream because it is perhaps Norway’s most famous painting.
“There have been many similar actions across Europe.
“They’ve done something that no other action has done: they’ve gotten a tremendous amount of coverage and press.”
It is the latest incident in which some of the world’s best-known works of art have been attacked in protests against climate change.
Activists threw soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Photo: Just stop the oil
In London, Just Stop Oil Protesters Throw Tomato Soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery last month.
In the meantime Extinction Rebellion activists stuck to a Picasso painting in an art gallery in Melbourne, Australia.
Y Monet’s Les Meules painting was dumped with mashed potatoes while on display in Germany.
Two Belgian activists who attacked Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring in the Netherlands were jailed for two months.
