London’s National Gallery is stepping up its security measures following protesters who attacked several priceless paintings inside the famous museum – and visitors are now banned from bringing almost any liquids into the space.

As of Friday, visitors are prohibited from bringing liquids into the gallery, except for formula, expressed milk or prescription medications, the museum announced.

All doors to the National Gallery will be equipped with metal detection gates and bags will be inspected upon entry, the press release said.

Visitors were also asked to bring as few items as possible – and no large bags.

The National Gallery will also ban “any displayed or portable paraphernalia considered offensive or affiliated with organizations that pose a physical threat to the collection”, in addition to any campaign materials.

Since July 2022, the National Gallery has seen five organized attacks on some of its most popular paintings, including two in the last two weeks.

Last month, Just Stop Oil activists poured soup over two Van Gogh works shortly after other members of the group were thrown in prison for tarnishing the frame of the artist’s iconic paintings, The Sunflowers .

“Such attacks have caused physical damage to artworks, distress to visitors and staff, and disrupted our mission to ensure great art is accessible to everyone, everywhere,” the gallery statement said. announcing the new rules.

“Free access to the National Gallery allows everyone to be inspired by humanity’s greatest achievements,” the statement added.

“The collection we hold is irreplaceable and with each attack we have been forced to consider putting more barriers between people and their works in order to preserve these fragile objects for future generations. Unfortunately, we have now reached a point where we are obliged to act to protect our visitors, our staff and our collections.