2 charged in connection with orange spray attack on Stonehenge monuments

LONDON — Two environmental activists have been charged over the spraying orange paint powder at the Stonehenge monuments in southwest England in June, police said Thursday. Rajan Naidu, 73, and Niamh Lynch, 22, have been charged with “destroying or damaging an ancient protected monument, and intentionally or recklessly causing a public nuisance,” Wiltshire Police said in a statement. Soon after the spray attack at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the group Just Stop Oil took responsibility and released video showing a man it identified as Naidu blast a fog of orange from a fire extinguisher at one of the vertical stones. Its origin and purpose remain somewhat of a mystery, though the stone circle aligns with the summer solstice sunrise and winter solstice sunset, drawing crowds of spiritualists, druids and sun worshippers.