WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump on Saturday said that multiple people had been arrested in connection with alleged vandalism of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, including an Olympic canoeist, as the administration\u2019s $14 million project to renovate the site has faced multiple setbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a pair of posts Saturday on Truth Social, Trump, without evidence, blamed vandals for the damage to the pool and said the alleged crimes could warrant \u201cyears in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments,\u201d Trump said in one post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2,030-foot pool, which sits at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, has been beset by an algae bloom as workers refilled it after they gave the floor a new \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d coat of sealant. That coating has begun to peel off, with chunks appearing above the surface of the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said that he had met with contractors Saturday and that much of the water might have to be drained to repair the pool\u2019s floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly,\u201d Trump said in the second post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete,\u201d he added. \u201cThey also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The renovation has been a pet project of the president and coincides with a broader beautification effort of Washington for the country\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite efforts to clean the algae, the bloom and peeling coating continue to draw the attention of onlookers visiting the pool and surrounding monuments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of those onlookers was David \u201cDavey\u201d Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist, who told NBC News he was arrested and detained for five hours Friday after touching a piece of the detached coating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hearn, 67, said he made his way to the pool at the end of a bike ride \u201cto satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating that I\u2019ve been seeing in the news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was kind of stiff, stiff, but flexible, pretty rubbery. Didn\u2019t feel brittle in any way,\u201d Hearn said. \u201cI didn\u2019t remove, tear, rip, break or destroy any of it. The condition of the reflecting pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hearn said the national guardsman who arrested him was unable to answer which federal law he had violated. The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll of a sudden they were handcuffing me behind my back, and they hadn\u2019t really told me what I was charged with,\u201d Hearn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier Saturday, Trump shared an article on social media about Hearn\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Park Police did not immediately respond to a request for information on any arrests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As workers made their initial renovations in recent weeks, Trump mocked his predecessors over the past condition of the pool. Last month, Trump drove to the reflecting pool as it was under renovation to showcase his repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt never had the color people wanted, but now it\u2019s going to have the great color,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Friday, workers could be seen scrubbing the pool as algae once again turned the water green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n