An unidentified individual painted part of the Washington Monument, in Washington, D.C., red with a vague political statement Tuesday evening.
“U.S. Park Police officers are charged with protecting National Icons such as the Statue of Liberty, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and other well known monuments and memorials,” according to Parks Department website. “This is accomplished through diligent patrol efforts; and coordination and assistance from our Intelligence/Counter-Terrorism Unit and our Icon Protection Unit.”
Patrol efforts apparently were not that diligent Tuesday because it would be hard to miss large red letters being applied to the pale monument’s marble. Luckily, it was just a vandal and not a terrorist intent on demolishing the iconic 138-year-old obelisk.
The Daily Wire further reported:
A vandal struck the National Mall on Tuesday, scrawling an obscene question on the side of the Washington Monument in bright red paint.
FOX 5 DC’s Katie Barlow shared a photo from the scene, describing what had happened in a Tuesday evening tweet.
“Nightly monument report. Someone has painted the side with red paint,” Barlow said. “There is an individual in cuffs off to the side and police have blocked the area out to the grass.”
A closer look at the words that had been scrawled on the side of the monument — which stands 555 feet tall — revealed the question: “Have you been f***ed by this?” followed by a response, “Gov says tough s***.”
A large smear of red paint appeared next to the words as well.
Barlow followed her first tweet with a brief video showing that someone had been detained by law enforcement.
“This is why we can’t have nice things. Some freedom loathing scumbag has defaced the Washington Monument with paint and vulgarities,” WUSA9 anchor and reporter Adam Longo added.
“We’ve gathered reaction from folks out here by the Washington Monument who are seeing the paint graffiti that reads ‘Have you been f***ed by this, Gov says tough s***.’ Live at 11pm on @wusa9,” Longo continued in a second tweet. “People asking where were police— one person saying they understand the sentiment.”
Longo followed that with a short video clip showing tourists standing as close to the monument as law enforcement would allow, attempting to get their own photos of the vandalized property.
“The USPP has an adult male in custody for vandalizing the base of the Washington Monument with paint. The area at the base of the monument will be temporality closed. National Park Service conservators will work on the restoration process. The investigation is ongoing,” FOX 5 DC’s Allison Papson gave an update.
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