President Donald Trump said vandals damaged the pool and lawn. The memorial was being readied for the 250th Independence Day anniversary.
By Catholics for Catholics
Repair work for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, one of the nation’s most emblematic patriotic sites, is underway after vandals damaged it, said President Donald Trump on Sunday.
Renovated ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary Independence Day Celebration in Washington, the surface had been repainted flag blue. However, the pool has been affected by peeling paint and blooming algae, according to a story by The Epoch Times.
Trump said in a Truth Social post on June 21 that he inspected the pool and found it had been “seriously vandalized.” He said the pool’s condition left him wondering “who would do such a thing,” adding that the damage will be fixed.
On Sunday, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told Fox News that several citations have been issued to individuals accused of vandalizing the pool and warned that those responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent.
“Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize the reflecting pool will face the criminal justice system in D.C.,” she said. “The president has made it a priority to make D.C. not only safe, but beautiful.”
In addition, Pirro also cautioned that anyone found to have dispensed products into the pool to cause algae could face more serious charges.
But the algae are not the only problem with the Memorial Pool. In a June 20 post, Trump said the vandals destroyed the grass around the site and suggested some even poured “corrosive and destructive chemicals into the pool.” He said the pool’s water may need to be drained to allow repairs.
“They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete,” he wrote.
Trump said authorities have made several arrests linked with vandalism at the reflecting pool.
In a separate post on June 19, the president said that 75 percent of the algae in the reflecting pool had been removed and that the issue was expected to be fixed early the next week.
The reflecting pool stretches 2,030 feet long and 167 feet wide, with a depth of 30 inches at its center. Trump first announced in March that he was working with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to clean up the pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, which he said was “absolutely filthy” and should have been cleaned during the prior administration.
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