Trump Vows Authorities Will Track Down ‘Animals’ Who Desecrated World War II Memorial

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump promised Friday that authorities are on the “trail” of vandals who graffitied the World War II Memorial.

“Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals,” the president wrote on Truth Social Friday morning.

“THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II,” Trump added. “First the Reflecting Pool, now this. We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???”

Vandals spray-painted red graffiti on the memorial on Thursday, with the message “Clean Hands Dirty $,” and filled the memorial’s fountain with soap and bubbles.

U.S. Park Police are investigating the vandalism. The White House referred The Daily Wire to the Department of the Interior when asked to comment on the matter. In a statement, Interior called the vandalism an “utter disgrace” and said the public deserves to know who was responsible.

“The vandalism that occurred is an utter disgrace and will not be tolerated,” an Interior Department spokesperson said in a statement. “The public should know we will find the person responsible for this disgusting act.”

Vandalism at the World War II Memorial on August 13, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tyler M. Andrews/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The World War II Memorial is dedicated to the 16 million service members who served in the armed forces during World War II, as well as the more than 400,000 who died in the war.

On Friday morning, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro announced that authorities are filing charges against a woman suspected of vandalizing the memorial, sharing a statement and photos of the woman on social media.

“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom,” she shared. “Those Americans include my father and grandfather. This morning, we are filing two felony charges, Depredation Against Property of the United States and Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials, in Federal District Court against Melissa L. Farris, offenses that carry penalties of up to ten years in prison. She is now in custody.”

This latest attack on the World War II Memorial is one of several acts of vandalism committed on the historic National Mall this year. Earlier this summer, after the Trump administration cleaned up the National Mall and the reflecting pool, the president announced that vandals had attacked the pool. Trump said that “sick, deranged people” vandalized the reflecting pool with chemicals and slashed a massive cut through it with knives.

“I can’t help it if someone goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up,” he said from the Oval Office as he spoke to reporters in June.

While authorities initially charged former Olympian David Hearn and several others with damage done to the pool, the Justice Department dropped its case against Hearn last month, saying that the reflecting pool’s troubles stemmed from its renovation rather than vandalism. The Trump administration asked the DOJ this week to consider a new prosecution against Hearn, possibly based on misdemeanor allegations, according to the Wall Street Journal.