WASHINGTON, June 29 (DC Times Online) — Federal officials said they are pursuing prosecutions after vandalism damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Washington’s National Mall, where investigators say the liner was cut in a long slash ahead of July Fourth events.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” that investigators believe the damage stretched about 350 feet and was caused by a box cutter or similar sharp instrument. Burgum said seven arrests had been made, multiple citations issued and 18 police reports filed.
Burgum said fencing has been installed around the pool as crews work to address the damage before the holiday, and he said the people involved would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. He called the Reflecting Pool and other nearby monuments among the country’s “most sacred” sites.
Public accounts have differed on the number of arrests and citations. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that six people had been arrested and seven others cited, while BBC reported that U.S. Park Police said five people had been arrested and five others received federal citations.
A court filing and a National Park Service account described the liner as cut with a sharp knife or razor. The available reports did not identify the people arrested or cited or list any criminal charges, case numbers or court filings against them.
