A man allegedly randomly took a sledgehammer to a statue honoring servicemen from Iwo Jima, reportedly causing thousands of dollars in damage and beheading one of the servicemen depicted.
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Police reportedly caught Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano as he was allegedly swinging away at the Iwo Jima statue at the Marine Corps Base Quantico on the evening of Oct. 22, per local outlet FOX 5 DC.
The limestone statue depicting the World War II US Marine flag-raising moment sustained serious damage from the sledgehammer wielded by the 27-year-old man. One of the statue's 6 figures was reportedly decapitated. Footage shared by FOX 5 DC also seemed to show one of the figures missing their nose due to the damage. Police claimed the attack also resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
Meanwhile, Maldonado Soriano was reportedly charged with "felony destruction of property, trespassing with intent to damage property, and felony injury to a monument." He's currently being held without bond.
Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin later reported that Maldonado Soriano is a Mexican national.
"Per federal sources, Soriano illegally crossed into the U.S. in December 1999," Melugin wrote on X. "He was granted DACA by the Obama administration in 2014 and had it extended for years, most recently by the Biden admin in 2024, but he lost his DACA status in August of this year when it wasn't renewed by the Trump administration."
White Reacts to Man Taking Sledgehammer to Iwo Jima Statue
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers also weighed in on the bizarre case of sledgehammer vandalism.
"This criminal illegal alien's dream is over. Maldonado Soriano disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice," Rogers told The New York Post. "President Trump has secured our border and is deporting illegal criminals who hate our country and our values. The socialist Democrats want to go back to open borders and flood our communities with dangerous criminal illegal aliens."
Of course, many reacted with disgust to Melugin's report on X.
"The Battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest battles in US Marine Corps history. It's a disgrace to see that memorial desecrated," one onlooker wrote. "This is very personal to me. My father's beloved older brother was one of the Marines killed on Iwo Jima. This is his memorial. My blood is boiling," another X user added.
Yet another onlooker became an internet sleuth, speculating on which service member depicted was beheaded.
"The one he decapitated appears to be Cpl. Harlon Block. He was KIA on Iwo Jima on March 1, 1945. He was from Texas and was 20 years old," he wrote.
