Something has cracked with climate protesters. In recent months, some of the world’s great artistic treasures have been sabotaged by activists trying to make some kind of point about the warming atmosphere. Activists have thrown soup on Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” at London’s National Gallery and smeared chocolate cake on the wax statue of King Charles III at London’s Madame Tussaud’s museum to spread the word about climate change. Now it’s the turn of Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain.
With its striking white stone structure and light blue water encircling it below, the Trevi Fountain has been one of central Rome’s iconic attractions since it was completed in 1762. Apart from its baroque beauty, the fountain was significant in literally bringing reliable drinking water to Romans who had suffered for generations without it as the ancient aqueducts fell into disrepair—Trevi is still fed by such an aqueduct today, although it’s really used now as a selfie-taking backdrop. All that was rudely interrupted on Sunday, when a group of Italy-based climate protesters from Ultima Generazione (or “Last Generation”) dumped charcoal into it, demanding an end to public subsidies for fossil fuels. They held up signs that read “We won’t pay for fossil [fuels].”
The use of charcoal contaminated the water at the fountain, necessitating the replacement of about 79,251 gallons (300,000 liters) of water, the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, wrote on Twitter.