Lincoln Memorial defaced with graffiti overnight; National Park Service is investigating and working to remove it. https://t.co/DreDW6tVfp pic.twitter.com/KJ6PRRmNqO
— ABC News (@ABC) August 15, 2017
According to the National Park Service, graffiti was found on the Lincoln Memorial early Tuesday morning, days after the violence in Charlottesville. The spray-painted phrase reads “F*ck law.” Crews are already working to remove the paint.
Paper covers the spot where someone sprayed red paint on the Lincoln Memorial. The Park Service if trying to clean it pic.twitter.com/FLhHihOU8k
— Sam Ford (@SamFord7News) August 15, 2017
Part of the work being done to clean the memorial includes “using a ‘mild, gel-type architectural paint stripper’ to remove the paint without damaging the stone.” The gel is spread over the affected area and allowed to set for an hour before being rinsed off with water. The complete process could require several repeated applications and rinsings of the gel.
It’s the second time in 2017 that the Lincoln Memorial has been defaced. In February, someone wrote “Jackie shot JFK” on the monument with permanent marker. In 2013, a woman threw green paint on the Lincoln Memorial, which took nearly a month for the National Park Service to clean up. The woman was later found incompetent to stand trial.
Additional silver graffiti was found nearby on a sign showing directions to the Smithsonian museum, but it wasn’t clear what the graffiti said or if it was connected to the graffiti found at the Lincoln Memorial.
There is absolutely no information available to the public yet about who defaced the monument, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at Twitter.
(Via NBC Washington)