The NPS leadership statement did not indicate how officials reached the conclusion that the multimillion-dollar liner was cut. Park officials did not respond to requests for comment.
A National Park Service official said in an affidavit in federal court that President Donald Trump’s renovated Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was vandalized using a “sharp knife or razor.”
Frank Lands, the Park Service’s deputy director for operations, said in a sworn statement that the reflecting pool cruiser, which the Trump administration ordered to be redone ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary, was intentionally mutilated. Lands’ statement did not indicate how park officials determined that Reiner was mutilated using some type of knife.
The statement was filed June 24 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This is the latest filing related to a lawsuit that claims the Trump administration illegally renovated the iconic Washington facility.
Lands said the park service reported the vandalism to the U.S. Park Police, and officers responded on June 9. The Park Police operates within the Park Authority.
Park Service officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lands’ declaration, including how officials determined the liner had been severed.
The pool, a must-see along Washington’s Monument Row, has been the subject of controversy since President Trump announced a project in April to resurface the shallow pool’s bottom and paint it “Stars and Stripes Blue.”
This announcement was controversial for several reasons. In it, the Trump administration bypassed the normal competitive bidding process for a multimillion-dollar renovation, with some of the contractors Trump hired having ties to Trump donors.
The renovated pool quickly deteriorated. Heavy algae blooms turned the water lime green and the new surface liner peeled off in visible sheets. President Trump has publicly stated that the pool’s new surface came off due to vandalism.
