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A woman was arrested on Friday morning in connection with the vandalization of the World War Two Memorial on the Mall in Washington DC, the capital’s federal prosecutor announced.
Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, announced mid-morning that a suspect was in custody and had been charged with federal crimes.
The memorial had graffiti scrawled on it and the pool polluted with soapy bubbles.
“This morning, we are filing two felony charges, Depredation Against Property of the United States and Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials, in Federal District Court against Melissa L Farris, offenses that carry penalties of up to ten years in prison. She is now in custody,” Pirro posted on X, showing two images of a middle-aged woman, one of her with what appears to be a can of spray-paint at the scene.
“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom. Those Americans include my father and grandfather,” Pirro also said in the post.
US Park Police had been investigating who graffitied the words “Clean hands dirty $” in red paint on the memorial on Washington DC’s Mall for the second world war and vandalized the fountain with soapy bubbles.
The US interior department said: “The public should know we will find the person responsible for this disgusting act” and the non-profit Friends of the World War II Memorial said the site should not be used for political expression.
“There are many places in our country for expression, debate and disagreement,” a statement from the organization said. “A national memorial honoring those who served and those who never returned home should never be used as a canvas for vandalism.”
The Veterans of Foreign Wars military service organization said the vandalism was “an act of profound disrespect”.
The memorial sits close to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, which has been the site of controversy in recent months. A contentious upgrade effort ordered by Donald Trump ahead of Fourth of July celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US became mired in dispute after new surfacing separated and algae returned.
Trump blamed vandals for damage to the pool lining, though prosecutions of individuals alleged to have contributed to the problems have since collapsed, including a high-profile case involving David Hearn, the US Olympian.
In early June vandals etched “8647” – a numeric signal of opposition to Trump – on the Memorial lawn. Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, said: “Anyone who engages in or endorses political violence or assassination culture must be condemned in the harshest terms possible.”
Leanna Townsend, a visitor to Washington DC from Florida this week, told the Washington Post upon seeing the clouds of bubbles frothing out of the pool at the second world war memorial that they seemed “a little bit juvenile and funny” but described the spray-paint as disrespectful.
“I just find it to be in complete distaste, especially for the people that it’s here to honor,” she said. “Shame on the person who thought that’s appropriate. It’s not.”
Sonja Weekley, visiting from Alabama, said the bubbles and spray-paint were “ridiculous and very disrespectful” – her grandparents and father-in-law had fought in the second world war, she told the outlet. “This is not political,” she said. “This is for the men and women who fought for us to be free.”
In videos posted to Farris’s Facebook account, Farris records herself spray-painting the second world war memorial and asking why she has not been arrested.
The criminal complaint filed on Friday quotes Farris as saying: “Someone has to make choices that are different and I am accountable for my actions.” In later videos posted after the incident, she appears disheveled and crying, saying she knows she upset people by her actions but was trying to get help for herself.
Trump has clung to claims that the reflecting pool was vandalized, despite charges being dropped. On Friday he posted to his social media platform: “First the Reflecting Pool, now this. We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???”
Reuters contributed reporting
