Animal Rising activists said they “redecorated” the painting on Tuesday.
LONDON — A newly unveiled portrait of King Charles was vandalized Tuesday at a London gallery by an animal rights activist group, the group said.
Two of the group’s supporters “glued the face of the iconic British character Wallace onto that of Her Majesty,” the group said in a press release, referring to a character from “Wallace and Gromit”, a series of films by animation. The group posted a video of the vandalization on social media.
Charles last month became royal patron of the charity RSPCA Assured, which works to improve the lives of animals on farms. And the activist group said on Tuesday its action was part of an effort to end “horrific suffering on RSPCA-approved farms”.
“This action highlighted the cruelty the group had exposed towards RSPCA-insured farms over the previous weekend,” the group said.
The Metropolitan Police said they were not called about the incident but attended the gallery on Tuesday in response to “images circulating on social media”.
Staff told police there was no damage to the paint or glass covering it and the protesters left when asked, according to Met Police.
“The gallery did not wish to report a crime and therefore no further action is being taken by the police,” the Met Police said in a statement.
The work by Jonathan Yeo, a UK-based artist, was unveiled at a ceremony in May at Buckingham Palace.
The 6-foot-tall portrait is on view at the Philip Mold Gallery until June 21.
ABC News’ Helena Skinner and Zoe Magee contributed to this report.
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News Source : abcnews.go.com
