Two eco-activists chucked soup at the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre Museum in Paris, as a means to demand the right to "healthy and sustainable food", an AFP journalist reported. 

The action coincided with the farmer protests covering the country demanding better pay, taxes, and regulations, and is part of a saga of similar incidents that have targeted world popular arts to gain attention from the global public. 

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⚡ 🇨🇵 Protesters have thrown soup at the glass-protected Mona Lisa at the Louvre, Paris.https://t.co/BDF18qvsMS pic.twitter.com/YKWPkQXIjo

— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) January 28, 2024

"What is more important? Art or the right to healthy and sustainable food," the women asked, adding "Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work," until security guards covered the vicinity with black screens that blocked their protest to visitors. 

A group called Riposte Alimentaire (Food counterattack) claimed responsibility for the event at the Louvre and sent AFP a statement explaining the purpose of the action, saying this was the "start of a campaign of civil resistance with the clear demand... of the social security of sustainable food". 

In the months leading up to the European Parliament elections, President Emmanuel Macron's government has been making efforts to prevent the spread of discontent among agricultural workers, recognizing these elections as a crucial test for the government. 

On Sunday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal hurriedly unveiled fresh measures in response to the threat of some farmers planning to block access roads to the capital on Monday.

Read more: Shifting political identities: France's Macron, Attal present reforms

French farmers protest en masse against government policies

More than 70,000 French farmers mobilized en masse in protests, expressing their dissatisfaction with the government's agricultural policies, BFMTV reported. The French National Federation of Agricultural Holders' Unions (FNSEA) reported that over 41,000 tractors were part of the large-scale demonstrations that took place throughout the country.

FNSEA President Arnaud Rousseau had earlier warned that the protests would escalate, reaching 85 of the 96 departments in metropolitan France by Friday. The farmers are opposing the government's agricultural policies, citing concerns that these measures render their products economically uncompetitive.

Yesterday, BFMTV reported that farmers, mounted on tractors, strategically blocked traffic on crucial highways leading to the capital, Paris. The disruptions created widespread traffic jams and heightened tensions across affected regions.

The #French people continue to struggle with a trembling #economy as #Paris feels the repercussions of the sanctions of the West, it included, on #Russia over the war in #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/9otHtuV74n

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 18, 2023