Man Accused of Beheading Soldier on Iwo Jima Monument Using Sledgehammer
Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, The Battle of Iwo Jima monument in Quantico, Virginia
Credit: Prince William Co. Police Department
Police say Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, was caught striking the historic Virginia monument with a sledgehammer on Oct. 21
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A Virginia man allegedly used a sledgehammer to knock the head off a soldier depicted on a historic Iwo Jima monument, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, according to police.
Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, of Stafford, was arrested Wednesday, Oct. 21, after officers responding to a report of vandalism found him striking the statue with a sledgehammer, police said in a release.
Officers responded to the monument near Richmond Highway and Fuller Road around 10:13 p.m. after receiving a report of property destruction, police said.
Officers found him “actively damaging the statue with a sledgehammer,” the department said. He was detained without incident.
According to The Washington Post, another figure lost a bayonet, while a third suffered damage to its helmet and face.
Maldonado Soriano was charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage property and felony injury to a monument. He was being held without bond, according to police.
The US flag is raised over the Marine Corps Memorial in Arlington, Virginia on February 23, 2009
Credit: TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty
A motive for the alleged vandalism remains unclear. Prince William County police Sgt. Erin Noble told CNN that Maldonado Soriano had offered investigators “multiple, conflicting reasons” for his actions.
The damaged monument is a nine-foot limestone sculpture depicting the iconic flag-raising on Iwo Jima during World War II, captured in a photograph by Joe Rosenthal on Feb. 23, 1945.
Sculptor Felix de Weldon completed the statue in 1945, according to the Marine Corps. It is a smaller version of the famous bronze Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va., which was dedicated in 1954.
Sculpture of individuals raising a flag night setting with focus on the monument
Credit: Prince William Co. Police Department
The monument has served as a backdrop for generations of military ceremonies, Keil Gentry, director of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, told NBC4 Washington.
“There have been generations of promotions and commissionings and retirements and re-enlistments done in front of this iconic monument,” Gentry said.
He added that repairs to the damaged sculpture are “likely to be challenging.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/man-accused-beheading-soldier-iwo-195744461.html
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