The Lincoln Memorial was shut down on Friday morning after vandals splashed light green paint on the iconic statue of the 16th president of the United States sitting on his marble throne. Authorities say there is no permanent damage.
No words or symbols were painted or written on the memorial, according to The Washington Post, the left leg of the statue as well as his chair and the floor were splattered with green paint for an, as of yet, unknown reason. The act is being quickly ruled as vandalism though.
Carol Bradley Johnson, a spokeswoman for the National Mall and Memorial Parks division of the National Park Service, called the incident "heartbreaking."
Police are reviewing surveillance footage from the popular tourist attraction on the west end of the Mall. So far no information has been released to the public about the ongoing investigation or what motivated the vandalism.
Authorities believe the paint was splattered around 1:30 a.m. Friday morning. Once the paint was discovered, authorities put yellow police tape across the monument until it could be cleaned up. A crew was seen using a pressure-washer to clean the paint off the statue. There have been no other acts of vandalism in the area or on any other monument in Washington D.C.
The Lincoln memorial was opened to the public in 1922 and is responsible for drawing millions of visitors each year. The neo-classical memorial to the president who emancipated the slaves and kept the union together during the Civil War was designed by Henry Bacon and modeled after an ancient Greek temple. Lincoln is shown sitting on a throne-like chair surrounded by excerpts from his famous Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address.
The monument will likely be reopened soon as authorities have insisted that there doesn't appear to be any lasting damage to the affected areas. Authorities say that vandalism attacks on the nation's most famous monuments is a rarity as many show respect and reverence for what each one represents.
Photos of the vandalism can be found HERE via Daily Mail.
