King Charles III portrait vandalized with 'Wallace and Gromit' by animal rights group

A new portrait of King Charles III has been vandalized by an animal rights group.

The portrait, created by artist Jonathan Yeo and unveiled last month, was defaced by Animal Rising, an animal rights group that took responsibility for the action in a video posted Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter.

The group took to Philip Mould Gallery in London, where the work was displayed, to plaster an image of Wallace from the British stop-motion animation franchise "Wallace and Gromit" where Charles' head once was. While one individual quickly stuck the face onto the framed piece, another stuck a second image of a speech bubble that read: "No cheese, Gromit, look at all this cruelty on RSPCA farms."

USA TODAY has reached out to Buckingham Palace, Yeo and the gallery for comment.

The group finished the action in less than 20 seconds, as apparent gallery visitors looked on and shared gasps and laughs. A photographer, standing off to the side, took photos on a tripod, but it is unclear whether the person was with the animal rights group.

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In a Tuesday release, the group called the incident a "comedic redecoration" of the portrait and stressed "cruelty" on Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-assured farms.

"With King Charles being such a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, we couldn't think of a better way to draw his attention to the horrific scenes on RSPCA Assured farms," Daniel Juniper of Animal Rising said in the release. "Even though we hope this is amusing to His Majesty, we also call on him to seriously reconsider if he wants to be associated with the awful suffering across farms being endorsed by the RSPCA."

The group referenced its own investigation, in which it claims it found evidence of cruelty and suffering on dozens of RSPCA-assured farms in the United Kingdom. RSPCA is a charity that promotes animal welfare and runs an "RSPCA Assured scheme" that assesses and confirms animal welfare standards on farms are being met. Charles, 75, serves as its royal patron.