Climate activists from the Ultima Generazione (Last Geeration, UG) group on Friday sprayed Gucci's iconic Xmas tree in Milan with wash-offable orange paint, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

The paint has been left on the tree, in the northern city's plush Galleria Vittorio Emanuele landmark and shopping mall, in order to "spur collective reflection," the fashion house said Saturday.

Gucci said it inequivocably condemned the act of UG, part of a long series of controversial acts of civil disobedience the group has staged to draw attention to the climate emergency, including several instances of pouring easy-to-wash-off paint over the protective shields of artworks and famous monuments.