MILAN, Dec 7 — Climate-change activists in Italy today threw paint at the entrance of Milan’s famed La Scala opera house ahead of the opening performance of the season, local police said.

Activists have staged high profile protests across Europe in recent months, sometimes targeting museums and art works in calling for tougher action to tackle global warming.

The Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) movement said they were responsible for the Milan protests.

Over the last month, the same group hurled soup over a Van Gogh work in Rome, threw a black liquid on a Gustav Klimt painting in Vienna and flour over a sports car painted by the US pop artist Andy Warhol that was on display in Milan.

Police said they had detained five people following the incident at La Scala, while cleaners swiftly removed the paint from the entrance of the theatre.

La Scala will open its 2022-23 season today, one of the highlights of the Italian cultural calendar, with a performance of the Russian opera "Boris Godunov” composed by Modest Mussorgsky. — Reuters