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Greenpeace

Greenpeace grabs column inches following Trafalgar Square gas mask stunt

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By John Glenday, Reporter

April 19, 2016 | 1 min read

Greenpeace has secured the attentions of the media and public after a pair of agile supporters scaled Nelson’s Column to attach a symbolic gas mask to the war hero’s likeness.

The co-ordinated protest led to the arrest of eight people but not before tourists and passers-by were able to snap the historic landmark’s contemporary makeover, alongside 16 other monuments.

The audacious 170ft ascent was completed by climbing a ladder to the plinth before climbing a lightning conductor to the top of the iconic column.

Other famous figures targeted in this way included a prominent bronze statue of Oliver Cromwell located outside Westminster, with activists entering the high security compound via the hi-tech route of a leg-up and scrap of carpet.

Alison Garrigan and Luke Jones were both arrested upon descending the column after their five hour escapade along with six other climbers on suspicion of causing criminal damage, all of whom were released alter that afternoon.

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