Climate activist Greta Thunberg banned from Venice after Grand Canal dyed green
Climate activist Greta Thunberg was temporarily banned from Venice after the Italian city's Grand Canal was dyed green in an act of protest.
Thunberg, 22, joined environmental group Extinction Rebellion over the weekend when they poured dye into the iconic water corridors that outline the historic city, The Telegraph reported.
The dye, a non-toxic tracer often used in environmental studies, transformed the waters of the Grand Canal into a bright green color.
The group, in an effort to highlight "the massive effects of climate collapse," hung a banner that read "stop ecocide" from the Rialto Bridge and sent protesters dressed in red veils to walk through crowds of tourists.
Dye was also thrown into waterways and fountains in several other Italian cities, including Milan, Palermo and Bologna, according to Extinction Rebellion.
The Veneto region's governor, Luca Zaia, condemned the demonstration, characterizing it as an act that "wounds" the city of Venice.
"Vandalism doesn't protect the environment," Zaia wrote on Instagram in Italian. "These acts damage Venice, require restoration work, and -- paradoxically --generate pollution."
Demonstrators have increasingly engaged in vandalism as a form of climate protest in recent years.
During the summer of 2022, several incidents in which protesters defaced historic pieces of art took place, including tomato soup being thrown onto Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" at the National Gallery in London and mashed potatoes being flung onto a Monet painting at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany.
Climate activists also glued their hands to the famous "Girl with a Pearl Earring" painting at the Mauritshuis museum in The Netherlands.
The demonstrations continued into 2023, when two members of climate activist group Declare Emergency were charged after red and black paint was thrown onto the case of the Edgar Degas sculpture "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen" at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Thunberg's ban was in effect for 48 hours. She, along with dozens of other protesters, were also fined $172, according to reports.
Last month, Thunberg was detained in Israel and later deported to her native Sweden after she participated in a humanitarian aid flotilla in an attempt to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.
Neither Thunberg's representative nor the city of Venice immediately responded to ABC News' requests for comment.
