Climate activists cleared of criminal damage after artwork protest

Milan Judge Maria Teresa Guadagnino acquitted three members of Italy's Ultima Generazione (Last Generation, UG) climate group of causing criminal damage for spraying wash-offable paint over Maurizio Cattelan's L.O.V.E. in Milan in January 2023, CE Report quotes ANSA.

Prosecutors had requested that the case against the three, aged between 23 and 39, be shelved, saying the action was not particularly serious.

The municipality of Milan, a civil plaintiff in the case, had never filed a criminal complaint.

Cattelan had also written to the defendants' lawyer, stressing that the action had not ruined the artwork, which is commonly known as Il Dito ('the finger') and features a hand with all the fingers severed except the middle one.

The 63-year-old artist also said he did not feel "offended or harmed" by stunt.

The stunt is part of a long series of controversial acts of civil disobedience the UG group has staged to draw attention to the climate emergency, including pouring easy-to-wash-off paint over the protective shields of artworks and famous monuments.