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Activists from Just Stop Oil who used fire extinguishers to spray Stonehenge with orange powder targeted the world-famous monument to create “maximum impact”, a jury has been told.
The action affected visitors and staff who were on site but also people around the world who saw what they had done to the ancient stone circle, Salisbury crown court heard.
One member of the public who was present described his shock at what the activists allegedly did while a member of staff said the circle was a spiritual place for her.
The prosecution claimed the action, which took place in June last year, was timed for just before summer solstice when thousands of people converge on Wiltshire to celebrate the longest day.
Rajan Naidu, 74, and an Oxford University student, Niamh Lynch, 22, are accused of spraying the monument with cornflour, talc and an orange dye. A third person, Luke Watson, 36, allegedly drove the two to the monument.
The three defendants each deny charges of damaging an ancient protected monument and causing a public nuisance.
Simon Jones, prosecuting, said: “Stonehenge is arguably the best recognised and architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world, built around 5,000 years ago.
“The site is visited by members of the public from all over the world, providing both an educational and spiritual experience.”
He said jurors would hear that people were left shocked, upset and angry at what happened. “It was targeted to provide maximum impact,” he said.
Jones told the jury that Naidu and Lynch crossed the boundary ropes and trespassed into the area around the monument before launching the attack.
“They were armed with fire extinguishers containing an orange powder consisting of cornflour and talc stained with a highly fluorescent synthetic orange dye,” he said. “That substance was sprayed over stones by both those defendants.”
Jones claimed Watson had driven his co-accused to Stonehenge that morning and had also “encouraged them in these acts”.
The prosecutor said the custodians of the circle had been concerned that if the stones had become wet after the substance was sprayed on them, it could have become caked on the monument. It cost £620 to clean the stones.
A member of the public who witnessed the incident, Savinder Chanhan, said in a statement read to the court: “I was shocked by the actions of these people and what they did.”
A visitor assistant at the historic site, Bethany Hocking, told the court Stonehenge was a “spiritual place” for her.
The body-worn footage of a police officer at the scene showed Naidu and Lynch sitting in front of the stones after allegedly carrying out the attack. They did not speak but Naidu handed the officer a piece of paper reading: “Fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty now!”
Naidu, of Birmingham, told police the powder would have “blown away in the wind” and was “totally safe and utterly harmless”, the court heard.
Lynch, of Turvey, Bedfordshire, informed officers she was protesting about the burning of fossil fuels. Watson, of Manuden, Essex, made no comment.
The trial continues.
