Trump issues 10-year prison sentence warning as Reflecting Pool hit by another blow
President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Americans after the Reflecting Pool was supposedly 'vandalized'.
Trump ordered a major renovation of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC, which saw the National Mall's water feature drained and resurfaced.
As part of the project, which is said to have cost more than $14,000,000, the POTUS had the bottom of it painted 'American flag blue'. However, the paint quickly started peeling off and the pool's water has began turning green from algae less than a month after the works concluded.
Trump has since blamed the failed makeover on 'vandalism'. He alleged: "We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool, which sits between The Washington Monument and The Lincoln Memorial.
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"Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed.
"No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work."
He's now issued a warning about the hefty sentence that comes with vandalising public property such as the Reflecting Pool.
He has penned on Truth Social today (June 22): "Of the MANY Statues and Fountains that we rebuilt, renovated, cleaned, and fixed, the only one that was Vandalized was the Reflecting Pool, which is being taken care of, ASAP!
"It has been given a 300 foot long gash, chemicals have been illegally placed in the water, and the beautiful new grass field has been destroyed with a gigantic 86 47 chemically carved into it (Probably inspired by Dirty Cop, James Comey!).
"Please remember that there is a 10 year prison sentence for the destruction, or even the attempted destruction, of such things - Which will be fully enforced!"
It should be noted that Trump has failed to provide any evidence of the apparent vandalism and how it's the reason behind the peeling paint and green water.
His warning comes following reports that five people have been arrested over vandalism allegations, says The Guardian – one person being three-time Olympian David Hearn. He stopped by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Hearn said he only put his hand into the pool to see what it felt like and was then arrested by US Park Police officers.
He insists that he 'didn’t destroy or break or peel anything'. Despite this, 67-year-old Hearn is now facing a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property and is scheduled to appear in DC Superior Court on July 9.
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Washington
Niamh Shackleton