An environmental activist accused of hypocrisy for using a diesel van to throw paint over two council buildings was cleared by a jury after claiming it was a lawful protest.
Nicola Stickells, 55, used the Mercedes Vito to travel between the headquarters of Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council.
She threw pink paint over both buildings as part of a campaign called Burning Pink to highlight what she said was lack of activity from local authorities about climate change.
The cost to remove the paint from both buildings cost 'thousands', her trial heard.
Mother-of-two Stickells, who studied environmental science at the University of East Anglia but dropped out of the course, drove to a police station after the incidents and handed herself in.
She admitted her role in both incidents but was acquitted of criminal damage after she told jurors at Norwich Crown Court she had a 'lawful excuse' for her actions.
They were necessary to 'get more attention about climate change' and the van was needed because of the difficulty transporting the paint, she argued.
However, her accomplice, Gabriella Ditton, 32, was only acquitted on one of the charges after the jury of eight women and four men convicted her of criminal damage for the incident at the city council's building.
Nicola Stickells, 55, used the diesel Mercedes Vito to travel between the headquarters of Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council
Illustrator and animator Ditton had argued it was not hypocritical to use the diesel van as its use was 'overshadowed by the enormity of the climate crisis'.
Judge Anthony Bate told her a sentence of unpaid work was 'very much in mind' when she is sentenced next month - although he warned this was subject to the results of an assessment by the Probation Service.
The case is the latest where environmental activists have been acquitted of offences despite admitting their involvement.
Speaking after the verdicts, Ms Stickells said: 'This is not a victory for us. We are facing the greatest threat humanity has ever known.
'We need many more people to stand up, take action, and force the changes that are so desperately needed. This is the responsibility of our time.'
The vandalism, which was live-streamed, took place on the afternoon of February 15, 2021, when the women drove in the diesel van to County Hall and caused between £3,000 and £4,000 of damage with the paint, the trial heard.
They then moved on to City Hall where they repeated the stunt before heading to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre where they handed themselves in.
Both were charged with two counts of causing criminal damage, which they denied.
Stickells, along with co-defendant Gabriella Ditton, 32, were both accused of two counts of causing criminal damage
During the trial, Ms Stickells, of Needham, told her barrister the pink paint was used as she and Ditton were 'desperate' to 'shock people out of their bubble' about climate change.
The diesel van was necessary, she claimed, because the paint couldn't be transported on a bus or bicycle.
Ditton, of Norwich, was asked by prosecutor Jude Durr if it was hypocritical to use a diesel van but replied that it was 'overshadowed' by the damage being done to the environment.
The defendant, who represented herself, added the water-based paint had been further 'watered down'.
'The aim was not to create the most damage but raise a conversation,' she told the court.
'I have written letters, done marches, done everything and it's not working.'
Both councils had been warned a month earlier about the protest in an email that demanded 'councils to act on climate change' or face a 'campaign of non-violent direct action'.
Activists cleared of criminal offences include three Extinction Rebellion members who were accused of obstructing the railway after climbing onto a Docklands Light Railway train in East London in 2022.
MPs warned it provided a 'green light' for people to commit crime after the judge, sitting in January 2022, cited the defendants' right to protest under the European Convention of Human Rights.
Three Just Stop Oil members used a similar argument when they were cleared in October last year of criminal damage and causing a public nuisance after they sprayed Stonehenge with orange powder using a fire extinguisher.
The trio accepted taking part in the protest but cited in their defence 'reasonable excuse' and their rights under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights to freedom of speech and freedom to protest.
They told the court that the protest at the World Heritage site was a 'peaceful action with good intentions'.