kmiragaya / Depositphotos.com
WASHINGTON, DC, WSAU – U.S. security officials will now be keeping watch at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after a string of arrests in recent weeks for vandalism at the popular landmark.
The nearly 2,000-foot-long basin on Washington’s National Mall will be patrolled by National Guard soldiers in groups of three or four, according to Reuters. After repairs were made earlier this week, the area is illuminated at night by solar-powered light towers, and about six mobile security stations equipped with surveillance cameras surround the perimeter as authorities try to be more successful in preventing anyone from trying to cut the pool’s liner again.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Interior Department communication director Katie Martin stated that “At the time of the June 9 incident, the vandalism was under investigation and believed to be isolated. So as not to encourage deranged individuals, we did not announce what we hoped to be an isolated incident,” and “It wasn’t until several days thereafter that there were recurring cases and videos of people ripping at the coating began to circulate.”
The Reflecting Pool was vandalized on the day it reopened following renovation and repainting, according to department officials who also told the outlet that the first offender left “razor-blade-like slashes along the liner in the southern middle section of the pool.” According to reports, there were more than 300 feet of damage, with “some cuts [that] were slits while other sections measuring roughly 6–15 inches had been cut out entirely.”
Five people have been detained on vandalism charges related to the pool, and five more people have received federal citations, an administration official previously told Fox News Digital. Additionally, 14 police reports of vandalism against the pool have been submitted.
Comments