{"id":45179,"date":"2026-08-14T21:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45179"},"modified":"2026-08-14T21:17:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:17:07","slug":"woman-arrested-accused-of-vandalizing-d-c-s-wwii-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45179","title":{"rendered":"Woman arrested, accused of vandalizing D.C.\u2019s WWII Memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A woman accused of scrawling graffiti and putting soap in the water at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/world-war-ii-memorial\/\">World War II Memorial<\/a> on the National Mall is in custody and facing charges.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/jeanine-pirro\/\">Jeanine Pirro<\/a> posted pictures on X of the accused suspect, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/melissa-farris\/\">Melissa Farris<\/a>, holding what appears to be a can of spray paint and carrying a long blue tube containing a white substance.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Pirro said Ms. Farris is facing charges of depredation against property of the United States and defacing veterans\u2019 memorials.<\/p>\n<p>If found guilty, Ms. Farris could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on each count, Ms. Pirro said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-photo article-story-photo\">\n<section class=\"block more-from-story\" style=\"padding-bottom: 10px; margin-bottom: 0; border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;\">\n<div class=\"block-content\">\n<figure class=\"photo-zoom\">\n<div class=\"photo\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/multimedia\/image\/ap_trump_ve_day_81588jpg\/\" alt=\"This May 6, 2020, file photo shows the World War II Memorial in Washington. (AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky) ** FILE **\" title=\"This May 6, 2020, file photo shows the World War II Memorial in Washington. (AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky) ** FILE **\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2020\/05\/08\/trump_ve_day_81588_c0-96-5126-3084_s885x516.jpg?f479290802c534af14ad83e78d1543ff21d52bb1\" width=\"885\" height=\"516\" alt=\"This May 6, 2020, file photo shows the World War II Memorial in Washington. (AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky) ** FILE **\"\/><i class=\"zoom\"\/><\/a><\/div><figcaption class=\"source\">\n                                      <span class=\"hide-on-mobile\"><br \/>\n                                        This May 6, 2020, file photo shows the World War II Memorial in Washington. (AP Photo\/Patrick Semansky) ** FILE **<br \/>\n                                      <\/span><br \/>\n                                      <span class=\"show-mobile-only-not-ad\"><br \/>\n                                        This May 6, 2020, file photo \u2026<br \/>\n                                      <\/span><br \/>\n                                      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/multimedia\/image\/ap_trump_ve_day_81588jpg\/\" target=\"_blank\">more &gt;<\/a><br \/>\n                                    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p>The vandalism at the monument was discovered Thursday, with a message \u201cClean hands dirty $\u201d written in red paint and bubbles in the water, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>The defacing of the memorial drew immediate and sharp reactions.<\/p>\n<p>President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, \u201cOur beautiful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/world-war-ii-memorial\/\">World War II Memorial<\/a> 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???\u201d<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Friends of the National <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/world-war-ii-memorial\/\">World War II Memorial<\/a>, a nonprofit group that helps with upkeep at the site, said on social media, \u201cWe are deeply disturbed by the reported vandalism at the National <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/world-war-ii-memorial\/\">World War II Memorial<\/a> today. Whatever the intent, defacing a place dedicated to the service and sacrifice of the World War II generation is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Locals and tourists were also angered by the vandalism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes me mad. It\u2019s taxpayer money to clean up a mess of somebody trying to make a point, which he\u2019s not doing. \u2026 I hope they catch them and put them away for a long, long time,\u201d Scott Wimpfheimer, who came to the nation\u2019s capital from Minnesota in part to see the memorial, told Washington\u2019s WJLA-TV.<\/p>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Ben Pauwels of Springfield, Virginia, told Washington\u2019s WTOP-FM that the graffiti and bubbles were \u201ca travesty,\u201d adding that \u201cIt\u2019s really sad. Over 400,000 Americans gave their lives during World War II, the Greatest Generation. It\u2019s when a country united for a common cause, and it\u2019s really sad to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"author-contact-section\">\n<\/section><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A woman accused of scrawling graffiti and putting soap in the water at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall is in custody and facing charges. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro posted pictures on X of the accused suspect, Melissa Farris, holding what appears to be a can of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2020\/05\/08\/trump_ve_day_00657_c0-0-5264-3070_s1200x700.jpg?482f8a813af05043a678cc3dc0414a259945e61c","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}