WASHINGTON — DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced charges Friday against a woman who allegedly vandalized the capital’s World War II Memorial by pouring bubble soap into its fountain and spray-painting a cryptic message on its stone edifice.
Pirro said in an X post that prosecutors in her office were filing two felony charges against Melissa L. Farris, accusing her of depredation against property of the US and destruction of veterans’ memorials.
Farris was in federal custody as of Friday morning, added Pirro.
Each count carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison upon conviction.
“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom. Those Americans include my father and grandfather,” Pirro wrote.
The memorial fountain bore the message, “Clean Hands Dirty $” in red graffiti Thursday afternoon.
President Trump posted earlier Friday on Truth Social, “Our beautiful World War II Memorial 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???”
Shortly after photos emerged of the defaced fountain, an Interior Department spokesperson vowed US Park Police would “find the person responsible for this disgusting act.”
“The World War II Memorial is a sacred place to honor the service of our members of the Armed Forces and the over 400,000 Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in WWII,” the rep added. “The vandalism that occurred is an utter disgrace and will not be tolerated.”
DC residents and tourists alike were shocked to see the memorial on the eastern end of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool cordoned off with crime scene tape.
The incident took place 13 days after Pirro moved to dismiss charges against a former Olympic canoeist who allegedly vandalized the liner coating the bottom of the Reflecting Pool.
David Hearn, 67, was charged with one felony count of destruction of property after authorities said he “violently” yanked at a flapping piece of the liner on June 19.
But evidence later handed over by the Interior Department showed that the Reflecting Pool’s sealant had previously been damaged due to “flawed installation by the contractor.”
Trump slammed Pirro for dropping the case against Hearn, claiming the former Fox News host and one-time Westchester County DA had “choked.”
“The judge was really vicious. Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked,” he told reporters in the Oval Office earlier this month.
“I was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed in Jeanine Pirro,” Trump added. “She folded like an umbrella.”
Virginia-based contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings took more than $14 million from the Interior Department to paint the Reflecting Pool’s 68,000-square-foot bottom, per federal spending records, with the work beginning in early May.
Other vandals allegedly used chemicals to singe the numbers “86 47” onto the Washington Monument’s lawn, in a reference to slang for “get rid of” and Trump’s second presidential term.
No charges have been filed in connection with that demonstration.
