Illegal alien arrested for taking sledgehammer to Iwo Jima statue outside Marine Corps Base Quantico

Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, has been charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with the intent to destroy property, and felony injury to a monument.

"This criminal illegal alien’s dream is over: Maldonado Soriano disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice," White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News. "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."

Maldonado Soriano illegally crossed the border in 1999 but was granted DACA status in 2014 by the Obama administration. That status was extended by the Biden administration, but it ended in August of this year. Police arrived on the scene at around 10:13 pm on Wednesday, when Maldonado Soriano was allegedly using a sledgehammer to behead one of the Marines depicted in the monument. The monument depicts the flag raising at Iwo Jima, which is one of the most well-recognized moments of US military history.

Along with the beheading of the figure furthest to the right on the monument, other portions of the statue were damaged in the incident. Another Marine depicted had visible strikes to the helmet and face while another had damage to the bayonet attached to a gun. Police said the damage will likely cost hundreds of thousands to be repaired.

The monument, sculpted by Felix de Weldon in 1945 and then dedicated at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico in 1954 to all Marines was inspired by the famous photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal where several Marines lifted the flag during the battle of Iwo Jima. Quantico has served as a military training center for decades. De Weldon also sculpted the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, which was inspired by the same photograph.