Vandals daubed gold paint across Neolithic standing stones at Avebury in Wiltshire, in what authorities are treating as a “heritage crime”.
The stones, estimated to be around 4,500 years old, are thought to have been targeted overnight.
The National Trust, which manages the site, alerted police after the damage was discovered and swiftly arranged for the substance to be cleaned from the ancient monument.
Avebury holds Unesco World Heritage status and is one of Britain’s most significant prehistoric landmarks.
The sprawling stone circle complex, which stretches some 330 metres across, was erected during the late Neolithic period between roughly 2850 and 2200 BC.
Experts believe the site originally featured around 100 massive standing stones arranged in three distinct circles, making it one of the largest monuments of its kind in Europe
Archaeologists have been drawn to Avebury since the 1600s, and it remains a focal point for the study of prehistoric Britain.
The vast monument predates many of the world’s most famous ancient structures and continues to attract history enthusiasts from across the globe.
Avebury stone circle has long fascinated historians
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Both the National Trust and English Heritage were also informed of the incident.
A spokesperson for the National Trust confirmed the clean-up operation was successful, stating: “The substance that was on the stones has been successfully removed by our team and we are confident there has been no lasting damage.”
English Heritage, which was also made aware of the defacement, noted in a statement the paint proved to be water-soluble, aiding its removal. The police have been notified and the matter is being investigated as a “heritage crime”.
Despite the reassurances from both organisations, traces of the vandalism reportedly remain visible on the stones following the clean-up effort.
Avebury stone circle was vandalised in the incident
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The incident has reignited concerns about the vulnerability of Britain’s most treasured ancient monuments to deliberate damage.
This is not the first time Avebury’s ancient stones have been targeted by vandals.
In June 1999, attackers painted several of the standing stones in red, green and white, in what was suspected at the time to be a demonstration against genetically modified crops.
That earlier incident took place on the eve of a gathering that drew hundreds of druids and spectators from around the world to the site.
Just Stop Oil activists who sprayed Stonehenge with orange powder
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JUST STOP OILAt Stonehenge, stones making up the site were sprayed with orange powder by three Just Stop Oil activists who in October last year were found not guilty of criminal damage after citing human rights law in their defence.
Rajan Naidu, 74, and Oxford University student Niamh Lynch, 23, had been accused of using two colour blasters filled with cornflour, talc and an orange dye to spray the ancient monument.
Salisbury Crown Court was told the pair, together with a third activist, Luke Watson, 36, targeted Stonehenge as part of an ongoing fossil fuel protest by the Just Stop Oil group the day before last year’s summer solstice where around 15,000 people were due to gather and celebrate.
Naidu and Lynch, then an Oxford University student, crossed the boundary ropes and trespassed into the area around the monument before launching the attack.
Rajan Naidu and Niamh Lynch were cleared
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The three defendants each denied charges of damaging an ancient protected monument and causing a public nuisance on June 19 2024.
The latter is a new statutory offence created by the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which sparked a wave of Kill the Bill protests across the country.
They each accepted taking part in the protest and cited in their defence “reasonable excuse”, and their rights under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights to freedom of speech and freedom to protest.
The defendants argued it was a peaceful protest, that the rights of others were not “greatly interfered with”, that care had been taken in choosing the type of powder to use, there was no lasting damage to the stones and that protesting about fossil fuels was a legitimate cause.