Two activists from the food security group Riposte Alimentaire on Sunday threw soup at the glass-protected Mona Lisa painting at Paris' Louvre Museum.
The women reportedly ducked the barrier to access the famous Leonardo Da Vinci painting. They said they were taking the action to highlight the need for "healthy and sustainable food" in France.
The intense media coverage of Sunday's act proves that civil disobedience protests can garner significant attention and bring food security issues to the fore. The current farming system is enormously flawed; hopefully, these actions will spark positive change.
No cause can justify targeting cultural landmarks like the Mona Lisa. These important artifacts must be safeguarded for future generations — they are not props for a radical minority to make political point. These protestors are criminals and should be punished to the full extent of the law for this distasteful stunt.