Animal rights protesters attack a portrait of the king

Animal rights protesters attacked a portrait of King Charles in a London art gallery.

Two protesters pasted posters on the glass covering the painting.

According to Philip Mold Gallery, the painting itself was not damaged and no arrests were made.

The striking red artwork by Jonathan Yeo, unveiled last month, was the first official image of the king since his coronation.

The Animal Rising group said its supporters pasted posters on the window protecting the painting, in what they described as a “careless” action.

They pasted a photo of Wallace, the animated character Wallace and Gromit, onto the royal portrait.

It was a protest criticizing welfare standards under the RSPCA’s ‘feed farm’ status, of which King Charles is patron.

“Since King Charles was such a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, we couldn’t think of a better way to get his attention,” said Daniel Juniper of the campaign group.

The gallery, which made the painting available to the public for free, stated that the incident ended quickly and no harm was done to the artwork.

The Metropolitan Police said it had not been called, but in response to footage on social media, officers visited the gallery to seek information.

“We talked to the facility’s staff. They confirmed that neither the painting nor the glass covering it was damaged,” the Met said in a statement.

“After the incident, employees asked protesters to leave the facility, which they did.

“The gallery did not want to report the crime, therefore the police do not take further action.”

The painting attracted great public interest when the king unveiled it at Buckingham Palace last month.

Painter Jonathan Yeo included an image of a butterfly to symbolize metamorphosis and rebirth, as well as the king’s support for environmental causes.

The RSPCA said it was “shocked by this vandalism” which is taking it away from its work helping animals.

“We believe our RSPCA Assured program is the best way to help farm animals now, while campaigning to make a difference to their lives in the future,” a spokeswoman said.