ROME - Two Italian climate change activists who glued themselves to the base of one of the Vatican Museums’ most famous statues must pay almost €30,000 (S$43,345) in damages and costs, a Vatican criminal court ruled on Monday.

Guido Viero and Laura Zorzini of the Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) group pulled the stunt against the Laocoon statue in August. The sculpture depicts a priest from Troy who tried to warn fellow citizens against taking in the Greeks’ wooden horse.

The Tribunal of the Vatican City State, which has lay rather than religious judges, told Viero and Zorzini to jointly pay €28,148 in damages to Vatican authorities, and €1,000 in legal costs, a court ruling showed.

They were also handed suspended jail sentences of nine months each, plus fines of around €1,500 each, also suspended. A third activist was given a suspended €120 penalty.

Ultima Generazione has performed several high profile protests in Italy, often targeting artworks or monuments. Last month, they poured diluted charcoal into Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain, turning its water black. REUTERS