Reflecting Pool liner was cut with knife or razor, parks official says

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Washington — A apical authoritative with the National Park Service said successful a court filing Thursday that the bureau reported harm to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool caused by a crisp weapon implicit 2 weeks ago.

Frank Lands, lawman manager for operations for the National Park Service, said the parkland work reported the harm connected June 9 to the U.S. Park Police. Lands' declaration is the archetypal nationalist grounds testifying to intentional harm of the pool, after President Trump blamed the renovated project's peeling aboveground connected vandals. The president told reporters earlier this week that the National Park Service oregon Interior Department would supply grounds successful tribunal of what helium called a 350-foot gash to the pool's coating.

"On June 9, 2026, aft the rehabilitation task was substantially complete, the U.S. Park Police responded to an NPS study of harm to the reflecting pool, including a caulk implicit the foam sealant that was chopped with a crisp weapon oregon razor and demolition of delaminating aboveground material," Lands said successful the tribunal filing. "In addition, astir 70 obstruction station tops were thrown into the pool."

Lands, who assumed his existent relation successful 2023, declared helium has idiosyncratic cognition of the facts stated successful his declaration and is consenting to attest successful court. It's not wide what benignant of grounds the National Park Service has.

Renovations connected the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

Lands said successful the filing that the parkland work plans to statesman draining and repairing the excavation aft the Independence Day festivities, alternatively than before. Lands' connection came astir arsenic a portion of the Cultural Landscape Foundation's lawsuit against the Interior Department implicit the president's reflecting excavation overgarment job.

In an speech with CBS News elder White House analogous Ed O'Keefe earlier this week, Mr. Trump insisted that vandals, alternatively than different problems with the work, are liable for the harm seen pursuing the $14.7 cardinal sealant job.

At slightest 5 radical person been arrested for alleged vandalism related to the Reflecting Pool, and 5 further radical were issued national citations, according to the U.S. Park Police.

"Yeah, astatine the close clip you'll spot it," Mr. Trump said of grounds of harm to the pool. "You'll spot it successful court. You'll spot it successful court, but each you person to bash is telephone the Parks Department, telephone the Department of Interior."

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