The National Park Service has confirmed that the liner at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was deliberately cut with a sharp knife or razor this month, causing significant damage to a $16 million renovation project.
Frank Lands, deputy director of operations for the National Park Service, revealed the specifics in a court document filed late Wednesday as part of a lawsuit seeking to halt the Trump administration’s work on the project.
The U.S. Park Police responded on June 9 to a complaint from the park service, with the police report describing damage that included 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 were also thrown into the pool, according to Lands, whose statement does not identify any suspects or confirm whether the incident is being treated as vandalism.
An Interior Department spokesperson said public notification was delayed because “at the time of the June 9 incident, the vandalism was under investigation and believed to be isolated,” adding that officials did not want to “encourage deranged individuals.”
The department later noticed that “recurring cases and videos of people ripping at the coating began to circulate,” prompting officials to conclude this was “not an isolated incident, but a new trend to attempt to damage the Reflecting Pool.”
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “sick people” had used razors and box cutters to slice portions of the lining, and he has claimed without citing evidence that unidentified vandals caused a “350-foot gash” in the liner among other problems.
The Interior Department said Thursday there have been seven arrests, seven federal citations, and 18 police reports filed, though it did not specify charges or identify anyone involved.
The Associated Press reviewed videos showing the Reflecting Pool was refilled between June 4 and June 9, meaning the alleged cut reported on June 9 could have occurred before the basin was fully refilled, with pieces of the blue liner later observed peeling from the bottom.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which sued in May to halt work on the project, urged a federal judge to block further renovations, writing that it is “not too late to correct course” and calling on the administration to “engage with experts and the public.”
Congressional Democrats have called for formal investigations, pointing out that no-bid contracts were awarded to vendors with prior ties to Trump, including a $1.7 million contract to Ohio-based Green Water Solutions and a $14.7 million contract to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations panel overseeing the Interior Department’s budget, accused the administration of misusing public funds, saying Trump “spent more than $16 million on a renovation of the Reflecting Pool that’s now peeling and chock full of algae.”
Merkley called the situation a “massive waste” of tax dollars and said the public deserves “swift answers — and a refund,” while New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and five other senators signed a separate letter demanding a “full explanation of how these failures occurred and who will be held accountable.”
Lands said the park service plans to begin draining the Reflecting Pool after Independence Day celebrations to conduct repairs, including assessing and addressing any remaining damage to the lining.
