The detention of the three Belgian environmental activists who on Thursday attacked a centuries-old painting at the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, has been extended, the Dutch public prosecutor’s office said Friday.
The trio is suspected of vandalism and “violence against public property.”
One of the three men had stuck himself to the 1665 painting, which was protected by glass, while another had sprayed it with soup. A member of the group then addressed the visitors present, asking them how they felt when something beautiful and precious was “destroyed before their eyes. “This painting is protected by glass, but our children’s future is not,” he said.
The painting, by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer, was not damaged and was returned to its exhibition space on Friday afternoon, after being taken to a studio to assess any damage.
The investigation is continuing, and the public prosecutor’s office will decide after the weekend whether to prosecute the three activists, who are aged between 42 and 45.
One had already made a name for himself in Belgium during the Tour of Flanders cycling race by disrupting the final sprint. According to the images available, it was he who stuck himself to the window protecting “La Jeune Fille à la Perle” on Thursday.
The trio's action came in the wake of similar acts in recent weeks: environmental activists threw tomato soup on the glass panel protecting Van Gogh’s 'Sunflowers' at the National Gallery in London, while others smeared mashed potatoes on the glass protecting Claude Monet’s 'Grindstones' in Germany.
