(Adds detail on paintings)
MADRID (Reuters) -Four people detained after two climate activists glued their hands to the frames of two iconic paintings by Francisco de Goya at Madrid’s Prado Museum to protest global warming have been released from custody, a Spanish court said on Monday.
The four, who were arrested on Saturday after the protest action, remain under investigation for alleged crimes against the “artistic-historical patrimony.” Those who cause damage to property of historic or artistic value in Spain can be sentenced to imprisonment of at least six months or a fine.
Footage of the incident showed a man and a woman attaching themselves to Goya’s “La Maja Vestida” (The Clothed Maja) and his “La Maja Desnuda” (The Naked Maja), and painting “+1.5 C” on the wall between the two works.
The Prado said its paintings, created at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, had not been damaged, and the graffiti on the wall was quickly painted over.
The two other people detained were a reporter and a photojournalist working for news portal El Salto who were covering the protest, according to a story published by the outlet.
Groups of climate activists have mounted a series of similar attacks on famous works of art at several European museums in recent weeks in the build-up to the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt.
The Prado Museum’s official account condemned the protest in a tweet on Saturday, adding: “The works have not been damaged, although the frames are slightly damaged. We are working to return to normality as soon as possible. We reject endangering cultural heritage as a means of protest.”
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Inti Landauro and Bernadette Baum)
