Two protesters threw soup at a glass protecting the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre Museum in Paris. They also shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system in France.
Sunday's incident came amidst protests by farmers against several issues, including low wages.
A video showed two women skillfully overtaking a security barrier to get closer to the 16th-century painting and the liquid at the glass protecting Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.
“What’s the most important thing?” they shouted. “Art, or right to a healthy and sustainable food?”
"Your agricultural system is sick. Our farmers are dying at work," they added.
Paris police later arrested both women.
The incident was later claimed by a group called Riposte Alimentaire (Food Counterattack).
In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, it said the protest was part of efforts to integrate "food into the general social security system".
It said that the current food model "stigmatises the most precarious and does not respect our fundamental right to food".
The group also demanded that a food card worth €150 (£128) to be given to citizens each month to be used on food.
On its website, the “Food Riposte” group said the French government is breaking its climate commitments and called for the equivalent of the country’s state-sponsored health care system to be put in place to give people better access to healthy food while providing farmers a decent income.
Meanwhile, in the last few days, angry French farmers have been using their tractors to set up road blockades and slow traffic across France to seek better remuneration for their produce, less red tape and protection against cheap imports, reports AP news agency. They also dumped stinky agricultural waste at the gates of government offices.
(With AP inputs)