Kentucky woman charged with vandalizing World War II Memorial as Trump clashes with his own prosecutor

Vandalism on the National Mall

On Thursday afternoon, the National World War II Memorial in Washington was defaced with spray paint and soap. According to the criminal complaint, Melissa L. Farris used orange spray paint to write "Clean hands dirty $" on the Atlantic pavilion wall, and also sprayed green and yellow paint, splattered pink paint on adjacent stones, and filled the fountain with foam. U.S. Park Police were alerted around 2 p.m. to a "disorderly" person spray-painting and videotaping herself. When a park ranger approached, the woman fled. The damage exceeds $1,000. National Park Service workers had cleaned the memorial by Friday morning, and National Guard soldiers also appeared at the scene, which was cordoned off with yellow tape.

Arrest and charges

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced on Friday that Farris was in custody and charged with two federal felonies: depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans' memorials, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in prison. Farris was identified through her Kentucky driver's license from an August 10 arrest for "unlawfully camping on federal property" a few blocks north of the memorial. According to the complaint, she posted a video to a Facebook account under the name "Melissa Lovewell" hours after the incident.

“I was just allowed to deface Federal [expletive] property, and nobody batted an eye.”

Before defacing the memorial, Farris posted another video saying she was "cognitively aware" of her actions and was "doing so to push my whistle-blower case into the courtroom." On Friday morning, a tearful woman appearing to be Farris posted videos saying she intended to turn herself in.

Trump's response

President Donald Trump condemned the vandalism on Truth Social, linking it to a separate dispute over the nearby Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals. 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 Interior Department said in a statement that the "act of vandalism is a true disgrace and will not be tolerated" and pledged to find the person responsible. The Friends of the National World War II Memorial said it was "deeply disturbed," adding that "whatever the intent, defacing a place dedicated to the service and sacrifice of the World War II generation is unacceptable."

Pirro and the Reflecting Pool dispute

The charges come weeks after Pirro dropped vandalism charges against several people accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool, exposing a rare public disagreement between Trump and one of his appointees. Trump had ordered renovations to the pool, but its condition deteriorated within days, with blue sealant peeling and algae appearing. Pirro charged former Olympic athlete David Hearn in early July, one of at least seven people who faced criminal charges over the peeling sealant. On August 1, she dropped the charges, asserting the Interior Department had provided "less than fulsome information at the outset of the case" and blaming the damage on faulty installation. Trump expressed displeasure, saying Pirro "folded like an umbrella." Both Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum continued to assert that vandals had damaged the pool liner even after Pirro dropped charges against four defendants.

Pirro, in her post on X, called the vandalism "a despicable attack on a sacred monument honouring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom" and noted that her father and grandfather were among those who served in the U.S. armed forces. The memorial, unveiled in 2004, consists of 56 pillars.