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President Trump claimed on Saturday that multiple individuals have been arrested for allegedly vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as he seeks to deflect blame for ongoing water quality and maintenance problems stemming from a recent multi-million renovation project.
“The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail!”
The president also noted that work would begin “immediately” on repairs.
He wrote in a separate post that officials met with contractors on Saturday and would “probably be forced to release and drain much of the water” to fix the alleged damage.
The National Park Service (NPS) did not immediately return The Hill’s request for comment.
Trump announced plans to repair and renovate the 2,028-foot-long reflecting pool at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in late April, describing its condition as “terrible” and “filthy.”
The $14.2 million remodel, which included waterproofing the pool’s bottom, resealing leaking joints and repainting it “American Flag blue,” was completed in the first week of June.
But it didn’t take long for issues that have long plagued the iconic fixture of the nation’s capital to return. Within days, a green hue spread across the water as clumps of algae once again returned to the surface.
Crews deployed by the Interior Department soon began using hydrogen peroxide and nanobubble technology in an attempt to combat the algae blooms.
The pool’s custom paint job — handpicked by the president — didn’t last, either. Photos taken in recent days showed blue paint peeling from bottom and floating to the top.
It was one of those paint chunks that reportedly led to the arrest of 67-year-old David Hearn on Friday.
Hearn, a former U.S. Olympian who competed in slalom canoe racing, was detained for nearly five hours on a charge of destruction of government property, according to the Washington Post.
The Bethesda, Md., resident denied any wrongdoing, telling the newspaper in an interview on Saturday that he “reached in there” and grabbed the end of a piece of a paint that was already peeling.
“I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn said. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
Trump said earlier on Friday that federal authorities were “actively investigating” reported vandalism near the reflecting pool, which has stood between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument since the early 1920s.
He referenced an apparent etching of the numbers “86 47” in the grass of the National Mall, a phrase which Trump and his allies have interpreted to be a threat against the 47th president.
“Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work.”
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