A Just Stop Oil protestor has been charged with criminal damage after glass protecting a historic painting at the National Gallery was smashed.

Two activists from the environmental protest group are accused of vandalising Diego Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus on Monday (November 6).

Hanan Ameur, 22, of Hornsey Road in Islington has now been charged, alongside 20-year-old Harrison Donnelly of Sillitoe Way in Nottingham.

Police said the historic painting sustained minimal damage but is undergoing conservation treatment.

It is not the first time the painting has been the focus of protest - it was slashed by suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914.

In total, 44 Just Stop Oil activists were charged after protests on Monday, with officers making more than 100 arrests.

The remaining 42 protestors were charged with obstruction of the highway following two slow marches along Whitehall.

In total, 20 activists have been remanded in custody while the other 24 were bailed with conditions.