The Justice Department will file two felony charges against the woman accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial in Washington, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said Friday.
“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom,” Pirro said on social media. “Those Americans include my father and grandfather.”
On Thursday afternoon, part of the memorial on the National Mall was tagged with graffiti, and soapy bubbles overtook a fountain, in an incident that the U.S. Park Police were investigating. Red graffiti spelled out “Clean hands dirty $” beneath the Atlantic Arch, and red and green paint was splattered on some of the granite stonework.
Pirro said the woman suspected of vandalizing the memorial, Melissa L. Farris, was in custody. Two felony charges — depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans’ memorials — will be filed against her, Pirro said. Both charges carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
The Interior Department condemned the incident Thursday as an “utter disgrace” that “will not be tolerated.”
The incident at the memorial comes weeks after the White House blamed vandals for disturbing the nearby Reflecting Pool after President Donald Trump’s renovations quickly degraded, causing algae blooms and a peeling liner.
Pirro eventually dropped the vandalism charges against four people and blamed the damage on flawed installation.
In response, Trump said Pirro “folded like an umbrella.”
“I just think she was totally wrong,” Trump told reporters earlier this month, noting that National Park Service employees had told authorities they saw vandals in action. He described problems with the contractor as “a couple of little things.”
It’s unclear what material was used to create the bubbles in the fountain. Ryan Compton, owner of Domain Aquascapes in Northern Virginia, said adding standard bubbles to a fountain generally doesn’t cause system damage but is a “maintenance nightmare.” It requires draining, cleaning out, and rinsing the fountain and pump system.
“That’s going to be a lot of man hours and work involved,” he said.
Trump denounced the World War II Memorial vandalism in a Friday morning post on Truth Social.
“THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II,” Trump wrote. “First the Reflecting Pool, now this. We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???”
The Washington Post was unable to immediately reach a representative of Farris for comment.
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