Environmental activists from the Last Generation group have placed banners against climate change on statues of the German poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller in the central German city of Weimar.
The city’s police confirmed that the activists also placed bandages over the statues’ eyes on which quotes from the two poets, two of the most prominent in German literature, could be read, but slightly modified for the cause.
Although the statues have not been damaged, the authorities have launched an investigation against the activists and banned them from the area.
Last Generation and other environmental movements have staged numerous ‘performances’ throughout Europe in recent months warning of climate change and protesting against the political decisions taken in this regard.
One of the most widespread forms of protest has been to throw food or paint at famous paintings, such as ‘The Sunflowers’, by Vincent van Gogh; ‘The Naked Maja’ and ‘The Clothed Maja’, by Francisco de Goya; or ‘The Scream’, by Edvard Munch.