US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) said that several arrests were made into the alleged vandalism of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He alleged that the vandals severely damaged the recently renovated Pool, claiming that a 250-foot-long gash was carved into its newly installed lining and corrosive chemicals were poured into the water. “Many additional people have been arrested having to do with the disgraceful Vandalism of our beautiful Reflecting Pool. It hasn’t looked or worked like this since 1922, when it was originally built, but even then, it leaked badly, and didn’t work. Ours worked perfectly, including the mirror like finish, perfectly reflecting the two Great Monuments, which it never had before!” he said in a post on Truth Social.Describing the incident, he said, “They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete. They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool. The Reflecting Pool was never so beautiful as it was just one week ago, even going back to 1922 when it opened.” Trump had criticised previous administrations for allowing the Reflecting Pool to deteriorate into an algae-covered green colour and said he would refurbish it with an “American flag blue” lining to improve its appearance and enhance reflections of the Washington Monument. However, shortly after the renovated pool was unveiled, the water again developed a greenish hue due to algae growth. While workers used chemical treatments to address the problem, the newly painted blue lining at the bottom of the pool reportedly began peeling away. According to The Washington Post, Olympic cyclist David Hearn was arrested by the US Park Police on Friday on a misdemeanour charge of destruction of government property following an incident at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Hearn had reportedly stopped at the memorial after completing a 52-mile bicycle ride around Hains Point and noticed that a section of the pool’s recently installed “American flag blue” liner had come loose from the bottom.Hearn told authorities that he reached into the water to examine the detached material. He was taken into custody shortly afterwards as he was preparing to leave the area and is scheduled to appear in DC Superior Court on July 9, The Washington Post reported. The arrest comes days after Trump alleged that vandals had damaged parts of the recently renovated Reflecting Pool and nearby areas.
