A man has been arrested after climate activists claimed responsibility for damaging fiber optic cables outside major insurance companies.

As reported by The Guardian, a 29-year-old man arrested by City of London police after Shut the System said they sabotaged cables across multiple cities in the UK.

In a statement last week, the activist group said it had cut cables to insurance company offices in London, Leeds, Birmingham, and Sheffield.

The company noted that its reasons for the attacks against insurers are "due to their critical role underpinning the fossil fuel economy through underwriting contracts and investments."

Police say the man was arrested on January 20 on suspicion of criminal damage. He has been bailed pending further investigations.

The damage caused to the insurers was reportedly not as significant as hoped, but did cause a slowdown in Internet speed.

Shut the System claimed to have disrupted the WiFi systems of hundreds of insurance companies across the country.

According to the group, fiber optics were targeted at the insurance market at Lloyd’s of London, the Walkie Talkie building at 20 Fenchurch Street, plus offices of Talbot AIG at 60 Threadneedle Street, Chubb at 100 Leadenhall Street, and AIG on Fenchurch Street.

The group said it also targeted the offices of AIG in Birmingham, Markel in Sheffield, and Axa in Leeds.

“There doesn’t seem to have been as much impact as I suspect the protesters hoped,” Matthew Geyman, the managing director of Intersys, a cybersecurity company with offices in the City, told The Guardian. “This is likely because robust communication systems are designed to be resilient to these attacks."

“If these powerful companies don’t make public statements that they will stop driving fossil fuel expansion and destroying life on Earth, then we have no choice but to stop them ourselves,” the group’s statement said. “We will not give up until insurance companies take responsible action.”

The group has previously targeted insurance companies by smashing windows and throwing red paint on the buildings.