Washington Reflecting Pool liner was sliced with blade, official says
National Park Service provides the first specific details of intentional damage at the site following Trump claims
A liner along the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing damage to the foam sealant installed as part of a US$16 million rehabilitation project, a top official at the National Park Service said.
The US Park Police responded June 9 to a complaint by the park service, said Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the park service. Lands made the statement in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by a non-profit organisation to halt the Trump administration’s work on the project.
His statement does not say when exactly the damage occurred or whether it was a suspected case of vandalism and does not identify anyone who might have been involved.
The police report indicates damage to the pool, “including a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material,” Lands said. About 70 fence post tops also were thrown into the pool, he said.
The statements were the first time the Republican administration has offered specifics on when and how the Reflecting Pool may have been damaged after work on the project was substantially completed.
A spokesperson for the Interior Department said on Thursday that public notification about the damage was delayed because: “at the time of the June 9 incident, the vandalism was under investigation and believed to be isolated. So as not to encourage deranged individuals, we did not announce what we hoped to be an isolated incident”.
