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The World War Two memorial in Washington was vandalized with bubbly soap and graffiti on Thursday, prompting vows from the \u200bU.S. government to find the perpetrator.
The fountain bubbled over with suds and \u200csomeone painted \u201cClean hands Dirty $\u201d on one surface, splattering the area with red and green paint. Uniformed police and National Guard troops converged on the scene, which was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape, keeping \u200bvisitors away.
One investigator in plainclothes bent over the site of the graffiti, \u200bmeasuring the damage with a tape measure, Reuters pictures showed. Workers arrived \u2060to remove the graffiti, the Washington Post reported, citing Park Police officers at \u200bthe site.
Dedicated in 2004, the memorial features 56 granite pillars around the edge of an \u200belliptical plaza on the National Mall as a monument to the 400,000 Americans who died and 16 million who served in the armed forces during the conflict, according to the National Park Service.
\u201cThe \u200bvandalism that occurred is an utter disgrace and will not be tolerated,\u201d the \u200bInterior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said in a statement. \u201cOur U.S. Park Police are on \u200cthe \u2060scene and the investigation is ongoing. The public should know we will find the person responsible for this disgusting act.\u201d
World War II Memorial vandalized with spray paint, bubbles
The Friends of the National WWII Memorial, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the memorial, called the vandalism \u201cunacceptable,\u201d saying the memorial was a \u201csacred place \u200bof remembrance.\u201d
\u201cThere are \u200bmany places in our \u2060country for expression, debate, and disagreement. A national memorial honoring those who served and those who never returned home should never \u200bbe used as a canvas for vandalism,\u201d the Friends said in \u200ba statement.
The \u2060U.S. role in World War II is largely a matter of national pride and unity even in highly polarizing times, though many Americans still debate whether the U.S. should \u2060have dropped \u200btwo atomic bombs on Japan to end the \u200bwar.
The vandalism comes as President Donald Trump has launched a personal and sometimes politically divisive campaign to alter memorials \u200baround Washington.
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