Kentucky Woman Indicted for Damaging World War II Memorial

A federal grand jury has indicted a woman from Kentucky accused of intentionally damaging the World War II Memorial located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Melissa Farris faces two felony counts and is scheduled for arraignment next week. The indictment was handed down Thursday, charging Farris with destruction of the veterans’ memorial and government property.

Farris, a resident of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, allegedly spray painted the words “Clean hands dirty $” on the monument and added bubbles to a fountain on August 13. She was released following her initial court appearance on August 17. Efforts to reach Farris’ attorney for comment were not immediately successful.

President Donald Trump addressed the incident on social media, linking it to his earlier, unsubstantiated claims about vandalism at the nearby Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. On his Truth Social platform, Trump stated, “Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals. First the Reflecting Pool, now this.”

In a related incident, charges against a former Olympian accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool were dropped after the Justice Department concluded the evidence did not support vandalism claims.