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A Virginia man has been arrested for allegedly using a sledgehammer to decapitate a soldier on the iconic Iwo Jima statue at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, was apprehended by police on Wednesday night (October 21) after officers found him actively damaging the monument, according to Fox News.
The statue, a smaller replica of the famous World War II U.S. Marine flag-raising memorial in Arlington, Virginia, suffered damage estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars. The monument, sculpted by Felix de Weldon, depicts the iconic image of six U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima Island during World War II.
Maldonado Soriano, a Mexican national living in the U.S. illegally, was charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage property, and felony injury to a monument. He is being held without bond, pending a court appearance, as reported by WUSA9.
According to CNN, Maldonado Soriano was a former recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, but his status expired earlier this year. Authorities have not disclosed the motive behind the vandalism.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers condemned the act, stating that Soriano "disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice."