A dozen or so Greenpeace vandals trampled a mile or more of the fragile desert landscape surrounding the Nazca geoglyphs, one of Peru’s premier archaeological zones and an important part of the nation’s cultural heritage.  They placed a sign advocating renewable energy on the sesert floor next to the hummingbird, arguably the most elegant of the geoglyphs, ostensibly in order to highlight the climate change crisis.

Even if the sign had been a potentially effective way to draw attention to the issue, there was no reason to place it in a protected area at all, let alone next to one of the most important geoglyphs.  The destruction was pointless.

Greenpeace officials were quick to issue statements of apology, but their failure to identify the perpetrators makes it clear that the organization is perfectly prepared to condone criminal vandalism by its agents.  Not only Greenpeace, but all activism intended to highlight the importance of dealing with climate change, has now been represented to world opinion as a movement of irresponsible, self-righteous publicity-seekers.