The administration blamed ‘vandalism by leftist activists’ for putting up the fencing earlier than planned

US President Donald Trump said “multiple individuals” had been arrested for vandalising the Lincoln Memorial monument. One, a former Olympian, denies any wrongdoing.

His involvement elevates scrutiny of a multimillion-dollar renovation project that has faced repeated setbacks since completion.

Trump said the reflecting pool is the only one among several areas renovated by his administration that has been vandalized.

The security presence comes as work crews began draining the Reflecting Pool to repair what Trump called damage from vandalism.