Park Police and National Park Service Detail Damage to Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Liner

U.S. Park Police officers responded to a report on June 9 and found that the foam sealant at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool had been cut with a sharp knife or razor. About 70 fence-post tops had also been thrown into the 2,000-foot basin.

The National Park Service described the damage in a court filing submitted in a lawsuit brought by a nonprofit group seeking to halt further work at the site. The filing provides the first public account of how the liner sustained damage after the pool was refilled following an April renovation.

President Trump told CBS News that vandals caused a 300-foot gash in the liner and that someone added fertilizer to the water.

The Trump administration introduced the filing as evidence of vandalism. Five people have been arrested for vandalism tied to the Reflecting Pool and five others received federal citations, according to U.S. Park Police.

The National Park Service plans to drain the pool again after Independence Day celebrations on July 4 to assess and repair the liner. The pool was drained in April for a two-month renovation requested by President Trump ahead of the country's 250th anniversary. Workers installed a tinted polyurea liner to waterproof the concrete surface during that project.

After the pool was refilled, an algae bloom appeared and the deep-blue paint on the bottom began to chip. The structure, built in the 1920s, has a history of leaks, algae growth, and structural issues that the recent work was intended to address.

The National Park Service statement in the court filing said the liner was cut with a "sharp knife or razor." The agency did not identify who performed the cutting or when it occurred. No publicly released evidence has documented the 300-foot gash or fertilizer addition described by President Trump.