National Park Service says knife cut damaged Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

A sharp knife or razor cut the liner at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, damaging foam sealant installed as part of a $16 million rehabilitation project, the National Park Service said.

Frank Lands, the Park Service’s deputy director for operations, said the damage was reported to the U.S. Park Police on June 9. In a court filing, Lands said the police report described caulk over the foam sealant that had been cut and "delaminating surface material" that was destroyed. He also said about 70 fence post tops were thrown into the pool.

The Reflecting Pool had been closed for lining and repair work beginning April 10, 2026, with the closure notice saying the job would include cleaning the pool, repairing joints and installing lining material. Park Service notices said the work was scheduled to continue through June 10 at 7:00 p.m. The repairs were part of a broader effort to restore a site that sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument on the National Mall.

The damage has become politically charged because the pool’s recent reopening was followed by algae problems and peeling surface material, giving the project an unusually public and scrutinized finish. Earlier in the week, Donald Trump blamed vandals for "a 300 foot long gash" in the pool and accused someone of putting fertiliser in the water, framing the damage as deliberate sabotage before investigators had publicly detailed the specific cause.

The Reflecting Pool is one of the National Mall’s most visible landmarks and a central feature of the McMillan Plan, completed in 1923 as part of the monumental design for Washington, D.C. That setting has made even a technical repair issue into a national symbol dispute, with the Park Service now describing a knife or razor cut, not the broader kind of vandalism Trump first alleged.