MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 9: U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 9, 2026 at Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey. President Trump spent the weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. (Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump condemned vandalism of the World War II memorial in Washington D.C.
“Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals,” Trump wrote Friday in a Truth Social post. “THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II. First the Reflecting Pool, now this.”
“We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???” the president stated.
The memorial was found vandalized on Thursday, with a fountain bubbling over with suds and “Clean hands Dirty $” painted on one surface, according to Reuters.
Dedicated in 2004, the memorial features 56 granite pillars around the edge of an elliptical 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.
“The vandalism that occurred is an utter disgrace and will not be tolerated,” the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, said in a statement. “Our U.S. Park Police are on the scene and the investigation is ongoing. The public should know we will find the person responsible for this disgusting act.”
The Friends of the National WWII Memorial, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the memorial, called the vandalism “unacceptable,” saying the memorial was a “sacred place of remembrance.”
“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 Friends said in a statement.
Reuters contributed to this report.
