Protesters spray Finnish parliament building with blood-red paint

Climate activists have defaced the Finnish parliament building in Helsinki with blood-red paint.

On Wednesday, paint was sprayed on several central columns of the imposing parliament building, as well as at the main entrance and on the steps leading up to it.

The police said 10 people were arrested as they remained seated on the steps of the building after the action. A cleaner then set to work removing the paint using a high-pressure hose.

The climate protection organizations Elokapina from Finland, and Återställ Våtmarker from Sweden, released a video showing how they sprayed the paint on the columns using fire extinguishers.

The activists were protesting the destruction of vital wetlands caused by peat extraction, a practice that continues to be utilized as a fossil fuel in both Finland and Sweden.

Elokapina is critical of the Finnish government, which has a target of halving the use of peat in its own country by 2030 while at the same time a Finnish state-owned company is responsible for more than 70% of peat extraction in neighbouring Sweden.