President Donald Trump stated Saturday afternoon that the U.S. Park Police had arrested a number of folks he alleged have been vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has been plagued with algae and peeling paint within the days because the Trump administration accomplished a expensive renovation.
Guests have been flocking to the pool over the weekend and a few have taken to social media with photographs and movies exhibiting the algae and peeling paint.
A Nationwide Park Service employee makes use of a vacuum to take away algae from the underside of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 20, 2026 in Washington, DC. The NPS continues to work to manage and take away the algae bloom that has turned the pool inexperienced following the Trump Administration’s current $14 million restore, resealing and portray challenge.
Anna Rose Layden/Getty Pictures
Trump didn’t get into specifics in his publish in regards to the alleged vandalism that prompted the arrests.
“These are very severe crimes having to do with the destruction of Nationwide Monuments. Years in jail,” Trump wrote on social media.
The Inside Division just lately accomplished a repainting job on the the Reflecting Pool that cost greater than $14.65 million, which was $4 million greater than the estimated price.
Trump pledged Saturday that work would start “instantly” to restore the peeling lining.
The president’s feedback got here as he made unsubstantiated accusations in a single day that the painted floor of the Reflecting Pool had been sabotaged with chemical substances.
In a follow-up social media publish, Trump stated the Reflecting Pool would seemingly have to be partially drained to restore the peeling lining, which he as soon as once more claimed, with out proof, was broken by intentional sabotage.
“We met with contractors at this time, will in all probability be compelled to launch and drain a lot of the water as a way to do the required repairs, however can have them executed as shortly as doable,” Trump stated of the pool’s situation.
In his publish, Trump referenced the enormous “86 47” marked in grass on the Nationwide Mall and claimed that “corrosive and damaging chemical substances” have been poured into the pool by vandals, inflicting the liner to peel.
The president additionally alleged that somebody “took some type of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot lengthy gash into the attractive facade of what took a lot work, competence, and cash to construct and full.”
It was not clear if he was referring to the liner of the Reflecting Pool, or to wreck to a different monument.
“What these horrible Vandals have executed is a real affront to each Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and needs to be handled accordingly,” Trump stated.
The U.S. Park Police didn’t instantly reply to ABC Information to questions on any of the arrests referenced by Trump in his publish.
A peeling part of blue coating is seen within the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photograph/Mark Schiefelbein
Hours earlier than he made his announcement of the arrests, Trump shared a Each day Mail article about an arrest Friday of a person close to the Reflecting Pool.
The Washington Post recognized the person Saturday as 67-year-old David Hearn, a three-time U.S. Olympian canoeist.
However in an interview with the Put up, Hearn denied damaging the pool.
“I did not vandalize something,” Hearn stated. “I did not destroy or break or peel something. By the point I noticed what was occurring, I used to be being put in handcuffs.”
Oklahoma Metropolis Police Division officers, deputized to help with native regulation enforcement for occasions across the 250th anniversary of the U.S., patrol close to the realm the place sections of blue coating have peeled up within the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photograph
Describing his actions to the Put up, Hearn stated, “I reached in there, and I used to be in a position to seize the tip of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was nonetheless hooked up to the underside. I did not take away something.”
In keeping with the Put up, Hearn was arrested on a misdemeanor cost of destruction of presidency property and is scheduled to seem in D.C. Superior Court docket on July 9.
Legal professional info for Hearn was not instantly obtainable.
-ABC Information’ Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
