US President Donald Trump announced that work would begin immediately on repairing the Reflecting Pool after inspecting the site from his helicopter on Sunday. Trump said he was shocked by the vandalism, calling it "Sick, deranged people!" He noted that five people had been arrested and five more cited for vandalizing the monument over the weekend.
Despite a recent multi‑million‑dollar renovation — a fresh coat of blue paint and extensive repairs that cost $13 million — the pool has continued to suffer from algae growth, leaks, faulty pipes and bird droppings. A green algae bloom, identified as Desmodesmus, has made the pool appear green in photographs.
The Reflecting Pool, built in the 1920s between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, stretches 2,030 feet (619 m). While a $13 million makeover was completed, it still suffers from structural deterioration and has been repeatedly drained and refilled.
US Attorney for Washington DC Jeanine Pirro pledged to prosecute any vandal. Police reports include a case involving a former Olympic athlete who was arrested for vandalizing the pool, though he insists he only touched peeling paint and did not damage it.
A Reuters photographer saw a dead duckling floating in the pool during the weekend; no evidence has confirmed the cause of its death.
Experts warn that the pool’s ecosystem is changing rapidly. Greenpeace University’s Professor Rosalina Stancheva Christova says the harmless algae could change if a bird introduces a new strain, potentially carrying harmful bacteria.
For more details, read the original BBC piece at Former Olympian denies vandalising Washington Reflecting Pool after arrest.
