Greenpeace Steals Emmanuel Macron

Greenpeace activists stole—or, as they put it, "borrowed without permission"—a waxwork figure of French President Emmanuel Macron from a Paris museum on Monday. The activists placed the figure, valued at around $45,000, outside the Russian embassy as part of a protest against French imports of Russian gas, France24 reports. "For us, France is playing a double game," said Jean-Francois Julliard, head of Greenpeace France. "Emmanuel Macron embodies this double discourse: he supports Ukraine but encourages French companies to continue trading with Russia."

Greenpeace said activists posing as ordinary visitors to the Grevin Museum, which has more than 200 waxwork figures, slipped out an exit with the Macron figure and brought it to other activists waiting with a car, reports Reuters. "There was no confrontation with museum security because we had planned everything carefully to ensure it happened quickly," a spokesperson said. Sources tell France24 that the activists changed clothes to impersonate workers after entering the museum and covered the figure with a blanket. The Greenpeace spokesperson said the wax Macron will be returned at some point. (More France stories.)