The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, recently renovated at a cost exceeding $14 million, has become a source of significant embarrassment for the Trump administration.
President Trump announced that federal authorities had made “multiple arrests” of individuals he claimed were responsible for vandalising the pool, which sits at the heart of the nation’s capital.
The renovation was launched ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary celebrations, with Trump promising a dramatic visual transformation of the iconic landmark.
Trump said his predecessors had allowed the pool to turn an algae-stained green and that he would line it with what he described as “American flag blue” to better reflect the Washington Monument.
Shortly after the newly renovated pool was unveiled, however, its intended blue tinge quickly reverted to the familiar green that the project was meant to eliminate.
Workers treated the water with chemicals to combat the returning algae, but the painted blue lining on the bottom of the pool then began to peel away.
Trump posted on his social media site on Friday night, writing: “We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool.”
On Monday, Trump continued to blame alleged vandalism for the problems, telling reporters that a “350-foot slit” had been cut through the pool’s lining using a “box-cutter or a knife of some kind.”
The president directed reporters to the Interior Department and the National Park Service for information on ongoing investigations but offered no direct evidence of vandalism himself.
One man arrested was David Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, who owned a company that manufactured composite materials used in building watercraft.
Hearn said he had stopped by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride on Friday simply to observe what was happening at the site.
He denied any wrongdoing and stated that he did not “destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part” of the paint lining the pool.
Hearn was released on Friday night after being detained for five hours and now faces a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property.
Critics and observers have noted that even if individuals had pulled ribbons of paint from the sides of the pool, that alone could not account for the widespread algae growth and large swaths of detached blue paint across the bottom.