WASHINGTON (AP) — One person has been arrested in connection with vandalism at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Friday. Pirro announced on X that his office was filing two felony charges against Melissa L. Farris. Pirro said the felony charges are “depredation against United States property and destruction of veterans memorials.” The crimes carry penalties of up to ten years in prison. Farris was expected to be arraigned Friday. The Public Defender’s office said he was not yet listed in the system and had not been assigned an attorney. The arrest followed the discovery of vandalism, which included bubbles filling a fountain and “Clean Dirty Hands $” written in red paint. “Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument that honors the Americans who fought and died for our freedom. Those Americans include my father and grandfather,” Pirro wrote. The vandalism comes weeks after President Donald Trump said the nearby Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was deliberately damaged, without providing evidence. Vandalism charges were filed against several people, which were quickly dropped after Pirro said the cause of the damage was botched repairs to the pool. “Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just attacked by spray paint vandals,” he said Friday on his Truth Social site. “There CANNOT BE A GREATER INSULT FOR THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II.” The Interior Department said U.S. Park Police were on the scene after Thursday’s vandalism and that an investigation was underway. “The public should know that we will find whoever is responsible for this disgusting act,” the department said. The Friends of the National World War II Memorial, a nonprofit that helps maintain the site, said: “There are many places in our country for expression, debate and disagreement. A national memorial honoring those who served and those who never returned home should never be used as a canvas for vandalism.” The World War II Memorial is just east of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pond on the mall. After a botched repair job earlier this year left the pool with peeling blue sealant and green algae, Trump blamed the problems on vandalism without providing evidence. “First the Reflecting Pool, now this,” Trump said in his Truth Social post. “We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???” a Justice Department that had previously echoed Trump’s claims and had portrayed the prosecution as responsible for the damage to a Washington landmark, a pet project of Trump. Pirro’s decision to drop the case was also a rare moment during Trump’s second term in which a political aide or appointee openly challenged him. Pirro blamed the Interior Department for providing “incomplete information at the beginning of the case.” It was a jarring turn by Pirro, who had claimed the government’s case was based on “tremendous evidence” when he announced the indictment. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, in a post on X, appeared to respond to Pirro’s criticism, stating that some of the vandalism was captured on video.
