Protesters throw soup at Mona Lisa painting in Paris

Food safety protesters have thrown soup at the glass-protected Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre Museum in France.

The protesters, BBC reports, are calling for the right to healthy and sustainable food.

Footage from the scene shows two female protesters wearing T-shirts with the inscription “food counterattack” and throwing liquid.

They stand in front of the painting asking: “What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food?”

They added: “Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work.”

Museum security officials are then seen putting black screens in front of them before the room is evacuated.

The protesters are part of a group called “Riposte Alimentaire” (Food counterattack) that claimed responsibility for the stunt.

The group, in a statement, said the stunt marked the “start of a campaign of civil resistance” with the demand for “sustainable food”.

The Mona Lisa painting, by Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian polymath from the 15th century, is one of the world’s most famous artworks.

The painting, held at the Louvre in central Paris, sits behind bulletproof glass to prevent damage.

Reacting to the protest, Rachida Dati, France’s culture minister, said no cause can justify the Mona Lisa being targeted.

“Like our heritage, the painting belongs to future generations,” she stated in a reaction on X.

The food security protest is the latest in a number of civil disobedience acts targeted at the Mona Lisa over the years.

The painting has been behind safety glass since the 50s when a tourist spilt acid on it.

In 2019, the museum said it had installed a more transparent form of bulletproof glass to protect it.

In 2022, an activist threw cake at the painting, urging people to “think of the earth”.