The Musee des Beaux-Arts in France’s third largest city said in a communique that the attack on Claude Monet’s “Le Printemps” (Spring) took place at 3:30 pm local time Saturday.

The 1872 painting was protected by glass, but will still undergo a close inspection and restoration, the museum said.

The museum said it would file a complaint for vandalism, adding that two activists were arrested.

Riposte Alimentaire (“Food counterattack”) claimed the attack in a posting on X, with a woman identifying herself as 20-year-old Ilona saying “we have to act now before it is too late.” 

💬 Ilona, 20 ans, citoyenne soutenant Riposte Alimentaire témoigne après son action au musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. #A22Network #RiposteAlimentaire [1] pic.twitter.com/Vg5DhjjorR

— Riposte Alimentaire (@riposte_alim) February 10, 2024

The same group, which calls for a sustainable supply of healthy food for all, also claimed January’s soup attack on the Louvre museum’s Mona Lisa painting, which was also behind glass. 

The two militants who carried out the attack on Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic work were condemned by a Paris court to carry out volunteer work for a charity association.

Riposte Alimentaire calls itself a “French civil resistance movement which aims to spur a radical societal change for the environment and society”.

“We love art,” the movement says, “but future artists will have nothing to paint on a burning planet.”

In a posting on X, Lyon’s mayor, who is from an ecological party, said he “regretted the action” but said that “in the face of climate emergencies, anguish is legitimate. We will respond with determined actions.”

Je regrette l’action menée ce jour au Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon contre une toile de Monet.

Tout mon soutien aux équipes, contraintes de fermer une partie du musée.

Mais face à l’urgence climatique, l’angoisse est légitime. Nous y répondons par une action résolue.

— Grégory Doucet (@Gregorydoucet) February 10, 2024

It wasn’t the first time a Monet painting has been targeted by ecologist activists.

In October 2022, protesters from the German branch of Last Generation flung mash at “Les Meules” (The Haystacks) in a museum in Potsdam. It too was protected by glass.

In June 2023, activists in Stockholm smeared red paint and glued their hands to the glass covering of another of the French impressionist’s works, “The Artist’s Garden at Giverny”.