Stonehenge expert fears rare lichen in rock could be irreparably damaged after Just Stop Oil paint attack as JK Rowling leads social media mockery of eco zealots Do you know the woman who tried to stop the attack? Email: [email protected] By Mark Duell Published: 02:40 EDT, 20 June 2024 | Updated: 05:53 EDT, 20 June 2024 e-mail 134 View comments Rare plant organisms on Stonehenge could be damaged after Just Stop Oil eco fanatics targeted the monument with orange powder paint, an expert said today. Environmental campaigners Rajan Naidu, 73, and Niamh Lynch, 21, ran up to the stones yesterday and attacked them as members of the public tried to intervene.
Video footage showed two people wearing white shirts with the Just Stop Oil slogan, approaching the stone circle with canisters and spraying orange powder paint. English Heritage said today there appeared to be 'no visible damage' to Stonehenge, but one expert revealed his concerns for the lichen plant organism on the stones. Tim Daw, a local farmer and historic property steward who used to volunteer at the site, carried out an experiment this morning by mixing cornflour and food dye then applying it to a small piece of sarsen, which is the same stone as Stonehenge.
On the piece of sarsen a series of little back dots are visible, which are the lichen. Mr Daw described this on BBC Breakfast as a 'very, very rare plant organism that grows on rocks' which 'takes hundreds of years to grow because there's no nutrition'. He then was.
